Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Tonight - Zoom Evening Prayer & Advent Class
Join us tonight, Wednesday night, December 8 for Zoom Evening Prayer and our Bible Project Video Advent Series Class. Evening Prayer begins at 5:30 p.m. and our class follows. We will use the propers for Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Theologian, and our Advent Word Study is “peace.”
Zoom Evening Prayer & Bible Project Video Advent Series Class
Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 867 8157 7595
Passcode: 530
Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 or +1 346 248 779
Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Ambrose of Milan
Ambrose of Milan, Bishop and Theologian, 397
O God, who gave your servant Ambrose grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Ambrose was governor of Northern Italy, with capital at Milan. When the see of Milan fell vacant, it seemed likely that rioting would result, since the city was evenly divided between Arians and Athanasians. (Explanatory Note: Athanasians affirm that the Logos or Word (John 1:1) is fully God in the same sense that the Father is, while Arians affirm that the Logos is a creature, the first being created by the Father. East Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Prebyterians, Reformed, Baptists, Methodists, etc. are Athanasians. The Watchtower Society (J's Witnesses), the Philippine group called the Iglesia ni Christi (spelling?), and some other groups are Arians. The Unitarians started out as Arians, and some of them still hold this position.) Ambrose went to the meeting where the election was to take place, and appealed to the crowd for order and good will on both sides. He ended up being elected bishop with the support of both sides. He gave away his wealth, and lived in simplicity. By his preaching, he converted the diocese to the Athanasian position, except for the Goths and some members of the Imperial Household. (Note: The Arian emperor Constantius (son of Constantine the Great) had sent missionaries (Arians, of course) to convert the Gothic tribes. The Goths were the chief source of mercenary troops for the Empire. Thus for many years the Army was Arian although a majority of civilians were Athanasian.) On one occasion, the Empress ordered him to turn over a church to the Arians so that her Gothic soldiers could worship in it. Ambrose refused, and he and his people occupied the church. Ambrose composed Latin hymns in the rhythm of "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow," and taught them to the people, who sang them in the church as the soldiers surrounded it. The Goths were unwilling to attack a hymn-singing congregation, and Ambrose won that dispute.
He subsequently won another dispute, when the Emperor, enraged by a crowd who defied him, ordered them all killed by his soldiers. When he next appeared at church, Ambrose met him at the door and said, "You may not come in. There is blood on your hands." The emperor finally agreed to do public penance and to promise that thereafter he would never carry out a sentence of death without a forty-day delay after pronouncing it. Less creditable, to modern Christians, is Ambrose's dispute with the emperor when certain Christians burned a Jewish synagogue, and the emperor commanded them to make restitution. Ambrose maintained that no Christian could be compelled to provide money for the building of a non-Christian house of worship, no matter what the circumstances.
Ambrose was largely responsible for the conversion of St. Augustine. The hymn Te Deum Laudamus ("We praise Thee, O God") was long thought to have been composed by Ambrose in thanksgiving for that conversion. The current opinion is that Ambrose did not write it, but that he may well have written the Creed known as the Athanasian Creed. He is perhaps the first writer of Christian hymns with rhyme and (accentual) meter, and northern Italy still uses his style of plainchant, known as Ambrosian chant, rather than the more widespread Gregorian chant. On the negative side, many Christians will regret his contribution to increased preoccupation with the relics of martyrs. He died 4 April 397, but (because this date so often falls in Holy Week or Easter Week) he is commonly remembered on the anniversary of his consecration as bishop, 7 December.
Ambrose is regarded as one of the Eight Great Doctors (=Teachers) of the Undivided Church. The list includes four Latin (Western) Doctors (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Pope Gregory the Great), and four Greek (Eastern) Doctors (Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus -- not to be confused with Gregory of Nyssa, the brother of Basil).*
*The Lectionary, James Kiefer, http://satucket.com/lectionary/Ambrose.htm
Monday, December 6, 2021
Nicholas of Myra
Nicholas of Myra, Bishop, c.342
Grant, Almighty God, that your church may be so inspired by the example of your servant Nicholas of Myra, that it may never cease to work for the welfare of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Very little is known about the life of Nicholas, except that he suffered torture and imprisonment during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian. It is possible that he was one of the bishops attending the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. He was honored as a saint in Constantinople in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian. His veneration became immensely popular in the West after the supposed removal of his body to Bari, Italy, in the late eleventh century. In England, almost 400 churches were dedicated to him. Nicholas is famed as the traditional patron of seafarers and sailors, and, more especially, of children. As a bearer of gifts to children, his name was brought to America by the Dutch colonists in New York, from whom he is popularly known as Santa Claus.*
* A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Copyright © 2016 by The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America
Saturday, December 4, 2021
John of Damascus
John of Damascus, Priest and Theologian, c.760
The Collect:
Confirm our minds, O Lord, in the mysteries of the true faith, set forth with power by your servant John of Damascus; that we, with him, confessing Jesus to be true God and true Man and singing the praises of the risen Lord, may, by the power of the resurrection, attain to eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
John of Damascus was the son of a Christian tax collector for the Muslim Caliph of Damascus. At an early age, he succeeded his father in this office. In about 715, he entered the monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem. There he devoted himself to an ascetic life and to the study of the Fathers.
In the same year that John was ordained priest, 726, the Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isaurian published his first edict against the Holy Images, which signaled the formal outbreak of the iconoclastic controversy. The edict forbade the veneration of sacred images, or icons, and ordered their destruction. In 729-730, John wrote three “Apologies (or Treatises) against the Iconoclasts and in Defense of the Holy Images.” He argued that such pictures were not idols, for they represented neither false gods nor even the true God in his divine nature; but only saints, or our Lord as man. He further distinguished between the respect, or veneration (proskynesis), that is properly paid to created beings, and the worship (latreia), that is properly given only to God.
The iconoclast case rested, in part, upon the Monophysite heresy, which held that Christ had only one nature, and since that nature was divine, it would be improper to represent him by material substances such as wood and paint. The Monophysite heresy was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
At issue also was the heresy of Manichaeism, which held that matter itself was essentially evil. In both of these heresies, John maintained, the Lord’s incarnation was rejected. The Seventh Ecumenical Council, in 787, decreed that crosses, icons, the book of the gospels, and other sacred objects were to receive reverence or veneration, expressed by salutations, incense, and lights, because the honor paid to them passed on to that which they represented. True worship (latreia), however, was due to God alone.
John also wrote a great synthesis of theology, The Fount of Knowledge, of which the last part, “On the Orthodox Faith,” is best known. To Anglicans, John is best known as the author of the Easter hymns, “Thou hallowed chosen morn of praise” (The Hymnal 1982, #198) “Come, ye faithful, raise the strain” (#199; #200), and “The day of resurrection” (#210). *
* A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Copyright © 2016 by The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America
Confirm our minds, O Lord, in the mysteries of the true faith, set forth with power by your servant John of Damascus; that we, with him, confessing Jesus to be true God and true Man and singing the praises of the risen Lord, may, by the power of the resurrection, attain to eternal joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
John of Damascus was the son of a Christian tax collector for the Muslim Caliph of Damascus. At an early age, he succeeded his father in this office. In about 715, he entered the monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem. There he devoted himself to an ascetic life and to the study of the Fathers.
In the same year that John was ordained priest, 726, the Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isaurian published his first edict against the Holy Images, which signaled the formal outbreak of the iconoclastic controversy. The edict forbade the veneration of sacred images, or icons, and ordered their destruction. In 729-730, John wrote three “Apologies (or Treatises) against the Iconoclasts and in Defense of the Holy Images.” He argued that such pictures were not idols, for they represented neither false gods nor even the true God in his divine nature; but only saints, or our Lord as man. He further distinguished between the respect, or veneration (proskynesis), that is properly paid to created beings, and the worship (latreia), that is properly given only to God.
The iconoclast case rested, in part, upon the Monophysite heresy, which held that Christ had only one nature, and since that nature was divine, it would be improper to represent him by material substances such as wood and paint. The Monophysite heresy was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
At issue also was the heresy of Manichaeism, which held that matter itself was essentially evil. In both of these heresies, John maintained, the Lord’s incarnation was rejected. The Seventh Ecumenical Council, in 787, decreed that crosses, icons, the book of the gospels, and other sacred objects were to receive reverence or veneration, expressed by salutations, incense, and lights, because the honor paid to them passed on to that which they represented. True worship (latreia), however, was due to God alone.
John also wrote a great synthesis of theology, The Fount of Knowledge, of which the last part, “On the Orthodox Faith,” is best known. To Anglicans, John is best known as the author of the Easter hymns, “Thou hallowed chosen morn of praise” (The Hymnal 1982, #198) “Come, ye faithful, raise the strain” (#199; #200), and “The day of resurrection” (#210). *
* A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Copyright © 2016 by The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America
Friday, December 3, 2021
The Second Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Join us for “at church” or “virtually” for worship this Sunday, December 5, The Second Sunday of Advent, at St. Alban’s, St. Thomas’, St. Patrick’s, and Iglesia Episcopal La Esperanza de Familias Unidas. Remember - Masks are optional for all, and communion will be offered in both kinds- wine by intinction. We strongly urge everyone to get vaccinated. Please maintain social distance in non-family groups.
St. Alban's is excited to welcome Bishop Jake Owensby to celebrate Holy Eucharist at !0:30 a.m.!
Holy Eucharist, Rite Two
Holy Eucharist, Rite Two
St. Alban’s - 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. with Bishop Jake Owensby and Iglesia Episcopal La Esperanza
de Familias Unidas*
St. Thomas' - 10:00 a.m.*
St. Patrick’s – 11:00 a.m.*
* These liturgies will be Live-Streamed on Facebook for those who choose to remain at home.
Download a pdf of the leaflet to print or to use on your phone or tablet with this link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pbKlTN2J0pYjWIPkYi4FLKqM9l8XMQkb/view?usp=sharing
La Santa EucaristÃa: Rito Dos con el obispo Jake Owensby y el episcopal de St. Alban’s
Iglesia Episcopal La Esperanza de Familias Unidas – Domingo - 10:30 a.m. (véase más arriba)
Zoom Compline - All Welcome
Sunday - 8:00 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83861688528?pwd=WFdBcndxV3hzbUpETDNTSFFzc3Z0QT09
Meeting ID: 838 6168 8528
Passcode: 800
or dial in at +1 312 626 6799 or +1 346 248 7799
We hope to “see” you all on Sunday as you are most comfortable!
Rita+, Rob+ and Whit+
de Familias Unidas*
St. Thomas' - 10:00 a.m.*
St. Patrick’s – 11:00 a.m.*
* These liturgies will be Live-Streamed on Facebook for those who choose to remain at home.
Download a pdf of the leaflet to print or to use on your phone or tablet with this link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pbKlTN2J0pYjWIPkYi4FLKqM9l8XMQkb/view?usp=sharing
La Santa EucaristÃa: Rito Dos con el obispo Jake Owensby y el episcopal de St. Alban’s
Iglesia Episcopal La Esperanza de Familias Unidas – Domingo - 10:30 a.m. (véase más arriba)
Zoom Compline - All Welcome
Sunday - 8:00 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83861688528?pwd=WFdBcndxV3hzbUpETDNTSFFzc3Z0QT09
Meeting ID: 838 6168 8528
Passcode: 800
or dial in at +1 312 626 6799 or +1 346 248 7799
We hope to “see” you all on Sunday as you are most comfortable!
Rita+, Rob+ and Whit+
Art from Clip Art, Steve Erspamer, Liturgy Training Publications – ltp.org
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