Snowy views of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Cathedral Road

 

Worship Online for 2nd Sunday in Lent at St. Mary's Episcopal Church

 

Worship Online  for 2nd Sunday in Lent at St. Mary's Episcopal Church

2 Lent The Collect

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Link for Morning Prayers for 2 Lent 10 am ~ HERE

Link for Musical Offerings for 2 Lent 10:30 am ~ HERE

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Kenneth Leighton's setting of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross"

(#474 in Hymnal 1982) Robert Below's setting of the Lutheran Passion hymn "Jesus, I Will Ponder Now" Gordon Young's "Sortie on Adoramus Te" Note on music from Jonathan Stark- Young's "Sortie" uses the melody of the Adoramus Te (We adore Thee, O Christ) from Theodore Dubois' oratorio "The Seven Last Words of Christ". The Adoramus Te text is part of the liturgy of the Stations of the Cross. Given the distinct Lenten association, this Sortie is a curious piece, as it strikes more of an exultant than a penitential tone. But we can't ask Gordon Young what he was thinking; he passed away in 1998.

Peace and Blessings,

The Rev. Peter M. Carey, Rector

St. Mary's Episcopal Church - Cathedral Road

www.stmaryscathedralroad.com/

revpetermcarey@gmail.com

434-242-6633

"Be always joyful; Pray continually; Give thanks whatever happens."  - 

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Begin to see your self as gift, love it as gift, from God's hand, and learn how the neighbor too is a gift, to himself or herself, and to you."  -Rowan Williams

Lenten prayers, week 1 by Thomas Hopko

 

Lenten Prayers, Week 1

Thomas Hopko

The lenten spring shines forth,
the flower of repentance!
Let us cleanse ourselves from all evil,
crying out to the Giver of Light:
"Glory to You, O Lover of man!"

From Thomas Hopko, The Lenten Spring (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Press, 1983), p. 9:

Prayers for all who have died due to COVID-19

February 22, 2021: Washington National Cathedral Bell Tolling for 500,000 COVID Deaths

5 pm

 

Lent 1 Morning Prayer Worship 21 February 2021

 Lent 1 Morning Prayer Worship Tomorrow

The Collect

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Sunday Worship at St. Mary's

Join us for online Holy Eucharist with sermon and organ music tomorrow at 10am ~ HERE

Link to enjoy Organ Music only 10:30am~ HERE

-Leon Boëllmann's Andantino, from his Second Suite

-Camil Van Hulse's setting of "Eternal Lord of love, behold your Church"   (#149 in Hymnal 1982)

-J. Bert Carlson's setting of "Lord Jesus, Think on Me"   (#641 in Hymnal 1982)

Note of interest - the Rev. J. Bert Carlson was a local Lutheran pastor and church musician.  As pastor, he served several churches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  As a musician, he was an accomplished performer at the organ, as well as a noted composer.  He composed pieces for organ, for choirs, and for solo voice, collaborating with his wife Nance on the lyrics for his vocal music.  He retired to Collingswood, NJ, and passed away in 2017 at age 79.

Readings for tomorrow are below.

Blessings to you all! 

The Rev. Peter M. Carey, Rector

St. Mary's Episcopal Church - Cathedral Road

www.stmaryscathedralroad.com/

revpetermcarey@gmail.com

434-242-6633

"Be always joyful; Pray continually; Give thanks whatever happens."  - 

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

"Begin to see your self as gift, love it as gift, from God's hand, and learn how the neighbor too is a gift, to himself or herself, and to you."  -Rowan Williams

1 Lent

The Collect

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Genesis 9:8-17

God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Psalm 25:1-9

Ad te, Domine, levavi

1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;

my God, I put my trust in you; *

let me not be humiliated,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

2 Let none who look to you be put to shame; *

let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.

3 Show me your ways, O Lord, *

and teach me your paths.

4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, *

for you are the God of my salvation;

in you have I trusted all the day long.

5 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, *

for they are from everlasting.

6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *

remember me according to your love

and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

7 Gracious and upright is the Lord; *

therefore he teaches sinners in his way.

8 He guides the humble in doing right *

and teaches his way to the lowly.

9 All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness *

to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

1 Peter 3:18-22

Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Mark 1:9-15

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

O Lord, our refuge

 

Ash Wednesday by T.S. Eliot

 

Ash Wednesday by T.S. Eliot

Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?

Because I do not hope to know again
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is nothing again

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessed face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice

And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still.

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

II

Lady, three white leopards sat under a juniper-tree
In the cool of the day, having fed to satiety
On my legs my heart my liver and that which had been contained
In the hollow round of my skull. And God said
Shall these bones live? shall these
Bones live? And that which had been contained
In the bones (which were already dry) said chirping:
Because of the goodness of this Lady
And because of her loveliness, and because
She honours the Virgin in meditation,
We shine with brightness. And I who am here dissembled
Proffer my deeds to oblivion, and my love
To the posterity of the desert and the fruit of the gourd.
It is this which recovers
My guts the strings of my eyes and the indigestible portions
Which the leopards reject. The Lady is withdrawn
In a white gown, to contemplation, in a white gown.
Let the whiteness of bones atone to forgetfulness.
There is no life in them. As I am forgotten
And would be forgotten, so I would forget
Thus devoted, concentrated in purpose. And God said
Prophesy to the wind, to the wind only for only
The wind will listen. And the bones sang chirping
With the burden of the grasshopper, saying

Lady of silences
Calm and distressed
Torn and most whole
Rose of memory
Rose of forgetfulness
Exhausted and life-giving
Worried reposeful
The single Rose
Is now the Garden
Where all loves end
Terminate torment
Of love unsatisfied
The greater torment
Of love satisfied
End of the endless
Journey to no end
Conclusion of all that
Is inconclusible
Speech without word and
Word of no speech
Grace to the Mother
For the Garden
Where all love ends.

Under a juniper-tree the bones sang, scattered and shining
We are glad to be scattered, we did little good to each other,
Under a tree in the cool of the day, with the blessing of sand,
Forgetting themselves and each other, united
In the quiet of the desert. This is the land which ye
Shall divide by lot. And neither division nor unity
Matters. This is the land. We have our inheritance.

III

At the first turning of the second stair
I turned and saw below
The same shape twisted on the banister
Under the vapour in the fetid air
Struggling with the devil of the stairs who wears
The deceitul face of hope and of despair.

At the second turning of the second stair
I left them twisting, turning below;
There were no more faces and the stair was dark,
Damp, jagged, like an old man's mouth drivelling, beyond repair,
Or the toothed gullet of an aged shark.

At the first turning of the third stair
Was a slotted window bellied like the figs's fruit
And beyond the hawthorn blossom and a pasture scene
The broadbacked figure drest in blue and green
Enchanted the maytime with an antique flute.
Blown hair is sweet, brown hair over the mouth blown,
Lilac and brown hair;
Distraction, music of the flute, stops and steps of the mind over the third stair,
Fading, fading; strength beyond hope and despair
Climbing the third stair.

Lord, I am not worthy
Lord, I am not worthy
but speak the word only.

IV

Who walked between the violet and the violet
Who walked between
The various ranks of varied green
Going in white and blue, in Mary's colour,
Talking of trivial things
In ignorance and knowledge of eternal dolour
Who moved among the others as they walked,
Who then made strong the fountains and made fresh the springs

Made cool the dry rock and made firm the sand
In blue of larkspur, blue of Mary's colour,
Sovegna vos

Here are the years that walk between, bearing
Away the fiddles and the flutes, restoring
One who moves in the time between sleep and waking, wearing

White light folded, sheathing about her, folded.
The new years walk, restoring
Through a bright cloud of tears, the years, restoring
With a new verse the ancient rhyme. Redeem
The time. Redeem
The unread vision in the higher dream
While jewelled unicorns draw by the gilded hearse.

The silent sister veiled in white and blue
Between the yews, behind the garden god,
Whose flute is breathless, bent her head and signed but spoke no word

But the fountain sprang up and the bird sang down
Redeem the time, redeem the dream
The token of the word unheard, unspoken

Till the wind shake a thousand whispers from the yew

And after this our exile

V

If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent
If the unheard, unspoken
Word is unspoken, unheard;
Still is the unspoken word, the Word unheard,
The Word without a word, the Word within
The world and for the world;
And the light shone in darkness and
Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled
About the centre of the silent Word.

O my people, what have I done unto thee.

Where shall the word be found, where will the word
Resound? Not here, there is not enough silence
Not on the sea or on the islands, not
On the mainland, in the desert or the rain land,
For those who walk in darkness
Both in the day time and in the night time
The right time and the right place are not here
No place of grace for those who avoid the face
No time to rejoice for those who walk among noise and deny the voice

Will the veiled sister pray for
Those who walk in darkness, who chose thee and oppose thee,
Those who are torn on the horn between season and season, time and time, between
Hour and hour, word and word, power and power, those who wait
In darkness? Will the veiled sister pray
For children at the gate
Who will not go away and cannot pray:
Pray for those who chose and oppose

O my people, what have I done unto thee.

Will the veiled sister between the slender
Yew trees pray for those who offend her
And are terrified and cannot surrender
And affirm before the world and deny between the rocks
In the last desert before the last blue rocks
The desert in the garden the garden in the desert
Of drouth, spitting from the mouth the withered apple-seed.

O my people.

VI

Although I do not hope to turn again
Although I do not hope
Although I do not hope to turn

Wavering between the profit and the loss
In this brief transit where the dreams cross
The dreamcrossed twilight between birth and dying
(Bless me father) though I do not wish to wish these things
From the wide window towards the granite shore
The white sails still fly seaward, seaward flying
Unbroken wings

And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices
In the lost lilac and the lost sea voices
And the weak spirit quickens to rebel
For the bent golden-rod and the lost sea smell
Quickens to recover
The cry of quail and the whirling plover
And the blind eye creates
The empty forms between the ivory gates
And smell renews the salt savour of the sandy earth This is the time of tension between dying and birth The place of solitude where three dreams cross Between blue rocks But when the voices shaken from the yew-tree drift away Let the other yew be shaken and reply.

Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.

484K

 484, 000 US Deaths due to COVID-19

13 February 2021

Blessed Absalom Jones 2021 Celebration ~ Diocese of Pennsylvania

 

Snowy views

 

Snowy views

 

Morning Prayers with the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral

 Morning Prayers with the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral

...and some of the Cathedral's pigs! 

Absalom Jones

 

Absalom Jones

 

Absalom Jones Celebration and Worship at St. Mary's on Sunday

Celebration of Absalom Jones ~ Saturday at 10am

Please join the Diocese for a wonderful online celebration of the life of  Absalom Jones, a son of Philadelphia, who was the first African-American priest in the Episcopal Church.  The preacher for the service is the Bishop of the Diocese of Newark, New Jersey, the Rt. Reverend Carlye Hughes.  Information to sign up for tomorrow's service is below.  Please join us! 

Sunday Service and Ash Wednesday

Information for our Sunday offerings are below.  Next week, we will be distributing ashes for Ash Wednesday outside at St. Mary's at both noon and 6pm.  Join us if you can.  I am also distributing Lenten packets with readings, sermons, and reflections, including a wonderful short book of daily devotions put out by Forward Movement Publications. 

Sunday Worship at St. Mary's

Join us for online Holy Eucharist with sermon and organ music tomorrow at 10am ~ HERE

Link to enjoy Organ Music only ~ HERE

Link for the Sunday Sermon only ~ HERE

Absalom Jones Celebration

Saturday, 13 February 2021, 10am

The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Absalom Jones Committee reaffirms Bishop Daniel Gutierrez’s request that all Diocesan members and parishes attend our annual diocesan celebration of Blessed Absalom Jones, the first African American priest in the Episcopal Church. We will have a virtual celebration of his life and legacy on February 13th, at 10:00am.  We are also offering a dial-in option for this service.  The required registration link is below for both the virtual and dial-in option.  Bishop Daniel has also asked our congregations to celebrate Blessed Absalom in their respective liturgical settings on February 14th, 2021. 

Blessed Absalom Jones Service 2021 Registration Link: absalomjonesvideo.com

Absalom Jones Service on Saturday and Worship on Sunday at St. Mary's

Celebration of Absalom Jones ~ Saturday at 10am

Please join the Diocese for a wonderful online celebration of the life of  Absalom Jones, a son of Philadelphia, who was the first African-American priest in the Episcopal Church.  The preacher for the service is the Bishop of the Diocese of Newark, New Jersey, the Rt. Reverend Carlye Hughes.  Information to sign up for tomorrow's service is below.  Please join us! 

Sunday Service and Ash Wednesday

Information for our Sunday offerings are below.  Next week, we will be distributing ashes for Ash Wednesday outside at St. Mary's at both noon and 6pm.  Join us if you can.  I am also distributing Lenten packets with readings, sermons, and reflections, including a wonderful short book of daily devotions put out by Forward Movement Publications. 

Sunday Worship at St. Mary's

Join us for online Holy Eucharist with sermon and organ music tomorrow at 10am ~ HERE

Link to enjoy Organ Music only ~ HERE

Link for the Sunday Sermon only ~ HERE

Absalom Jones Celebration

Saturday, 13 February 2021, 10am

The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Absalom Jones Committee reaffirms Bishop Daniel Gutierrez’s request that all Diocesan members and parishes attend our annual diocesan celebration of Blessed Absalom Jones, the first African American priest in the Episcopal Church. We will have a virtual celebration of his life and legacy on February 13th, at 10:00am.  We are also offering a dial-in option for this service.  The required registration link is below for both the virtual and dial-in option.  Bishop Daniel has also asked our congregations to celebrate Blessed Absalom in their respective liturgical settings on February 14th, 2021. 

Blessed Absalom Jones Service 2021 Registration Link: absalomjonesvideo.com