ONLINE PARISH NOTES

Sunday 9 November 2014

T. Noyes Lewis, The Place of Meeting (At the Time of Communion),
No date, printed shortly after World War I

FROM THE RECTOR

In recent months, I've had some interesting conversations with fellow priests who are military veterans concerning the respective meanings of Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Remembrance Sunday. They rightly point out the error of confusing Memorial Day, when we remember and honor our nation's war dead, and Veterans Day, when we honor and express our gratitude to those who, still living, have served in our nation's armed forces (whether in wartime or peacetime). I am eager to respect and affirm this distinction.

The meaning of Remembrance Sunday can be a bit confusing, because although it is observed on the Sunday closest to Veterans Day (November 11), it is an occasion of prayer for those who have lost their lives in war, including but not limited to those who made the supreme sacrifice serving in our armed forces. Its meaning is thus closer to Memorial Day than to Veterans Day. Our business in the Church is not to make political points, whether pro-military or anti-war, but simply to pray for the fallen while we await in hope the coming of Christ's universal reign of peace.

Remembrance Sunday has come into observance in the past twenty years or so in a number of Episcopal parishes in the United States. It is admittedly an import from Commonwealth countries where it is kept on the Sunday closest to Armistice Day -- the same day as our Veterans' Day but with a slightly different meaning. We might consider Remembrance Sunday a Memorial Day in November; the advantage of keeping it now is that during Memorial Day weekend it would usually be pre-empted by the Sundays of the Easter cycle (Pentecost, Trinity, etc.). It is also another opportunity to pray for the dead during November, the month especially so dedicated in the Catholic tradition.

Isn't it forbidden to celebrate Requiem Masses on Sunday? In most cases, yes, absolutely. But for pastoral reasons Benedict XV (Pope 1914-1922) granted an indult to the Church in countries that had been belligerents in World War I to celebrate one Requiem Mass on Remembrance Sunday in addition to the proper Office and Mass of the Sunday. This custom spread from the Roman Catholic Church in England to Anglo-Catholic parishes in the Church of England, and thence to the rest of the Anglican Communion. I am grateful to Bishop Knisely for his kind permission to observe this custom here at S. Stephen's.

One final note: in the Episcopal Church, November 11 (Veterans Day) is kept as the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours (d. 397). Martin was a soldier before he became a bishop, so he makes a fitting patron saint for veterans. See below for Mass times this Tuesday.

-- Fr. John D. Alexander, Rector

THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS

8 am -- Proper 27, Year A – Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
Amos 5:18-24, Psalm 70, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Matthew 5:1-13

10 am -- Remembrance Sunday
Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 8:31-39, John 15:9-17

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Welcome to all visitors and guests – we’re glad that you’re here. Please join us after the 10 am Mass for coffee and refreshments in the Great Hall, upstairs.

Veterans' Day – As on all Federal public holidays, Low Mass on Tuesday 11 November, will be celebrated at 9:30 am, preceded by Morning Prayer at 9.

Eucharistic Adoration – This Saturday, 15 November, the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament will sponsor approximately an hour of silent prayer and meditation in the Lady Chapel before the Blessed Sacrament, beginning shortly after the end of the 9:30 am Mass, and concluding by 11 am. All are welcome and invited to participate.

Stewardship Sunday – is next Sunday, on November 16. Please bring your pledge forms to complete and give in during Mass. (If you have not received a pledge form you may obtain a blank form from one of the ushers.)

Thanksgiving Day Masses -- will be offered on Wednesday 26 November at 6 pm (preceded by Evening Prayer at 5:30 pm) and Thursday 27 November at 9:30 am (preceded by Morning Prayer at 9 am). It is fitting to begin our Thanksgiving Day festivities by coming to Mass to give thanks to God for our many blessings."

New Seating Arrangement in Lady Chapel – Starting in Advent (which begins Sunday 30 November) we will be experimenting with a new arrangements of the seats in the Lady Chapel, in the “collegiate” style of rows of seats facing each other rather than facing forward. We hope this arrangement will enhance our worship in this space; and we will evaluate how well it works over a period of several months.

FOR YOUR PRAYERS

Prayers have been requested for: Nicholas, Jonno, Nancy, Patrick, Will, Townsend, Norman, Mark, Hannah, Kaitlyn, Mary, Harrington, Davaughn, Richard, Hugh, Beverly, Deborah, Beverly, Angela, Rhoda, Henry, Jim, James, Richard, Lynne, Dianne, Kathleen, Richard, and Maggie.

The faithful departed: Year’s mind: Chester Arthur Files (9 November 1987), Lillian A. Crumby (9 November 1997), Helena Crosslin (11 November 2007), and Alison Morgan Henning Stebbins (12 November 2012)

Birthdays this week: Leana Latimer (9 November), Peter Gibson (10 November), Klara Benziger and Jane Latham (11 November)

Anglican and Diocesan Cycles of Prayer – In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, please pray for pray for Bermuda (Extra-Provincial to Canterbury) Bermuda - (Bermuda): The Rt. Rev’d Nicholas Dill; and in the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, please pray for the leadership and people of St. Martin’s, Providence; and for clergy widows of the Diocese: Alison Almeida, Phyllis Dickson-Boyd, Elfriede Knowles and widowers Christopher North and Harold McShane.

THE SUNDAY ROTA

Acolytes - MC R Armidon; SD W Dilworth; Thurifer R Noble; Crucifer D Callanan; Torches E Benziger, DO Latimer
Lector – T Johnson
Ushers – S Brazil, L Verdelotti
Coffee Hour – TBA

THIS WEEK AT S. STEPHEN’S

PARISH PROGRAMS, EVENTS & MEETINGS 

Sunday 9 November

Student Group Supper and Meeting -- following 5:30 pm Evening Prayer 

Wednesday 12 November
Afternoon Tea 4 pm

EXTRA-PAROCHIAL EVENTS HOSTED AT S. STEPHEN’S

Friday 14 November

Reformed University Fellowship 7 pm

Saturday 15 November
Epiphany Soup Kitchen 2 pm

LITURGICAL CALENDAR & SERVICE SCHEDULE

Sunday 9 November
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (G) – 8 AM
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY (Black) – 10 AM
Morning Prayer 7:30 am
Low Mass 8 am
Requiem Mass 10 am
Evening Prayer with EMBR* 5:30 pm

Daily Office and Weekday Mass Lectionaries -- Proper 27, Year Two

Monday 10 November
Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher, 461 (W)
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6 pm

Tuesday 11 November
VETERANS DAY
Martin, Bishop of Tours, c. 397 (W)
Morning Prayer 9 am
Low Mass 9:30 am

Wednesday 12 November
Josaphat Kunsevich, Archbishop of Polotsk, Martyr, 1623 (R)
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6 pm

Thursday 13 November
Feria (G)
Morning Prayer 8 am
Low Mass 8:30 am

Friday 14 November
Samuel Seabury, First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796 (W)
Angelus 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Saturday 15 November
Albert the Great, Dominican Friar, Bishop, Teacher, 1280 (W)
Morning Prayer 9 am
Low Mass 9:30 am
Eucharistic Adoration 10 am

Sunday 16 November
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (G)
Morning Prayer 7:30 am
Low Mass 8 am
Solemn Mass 10 am
Evening Prayer with EMBR* 5:30 pm


*EMBR = Episcopal Ministry at Brown and RISD


NEXT SUNDAY'S READINGS (November 16)

Proper 28, Year A – Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18, Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Matthew 25:14-30