PARISH NOTES
Sunday 5 August 2018

Finding of the Relics of Saint Stephen
From the Saint Stephen Altarpiece, c. 1385
Tempera and gold leaf on wood
National Art Museum of Catalonia, Barcelona

FROM THE RECTOR

Why relics? The whole business seems to many not only superstitious but also grisly. But the Catholic (including Anglican-Catholic) devotion to relics expresses important theological and spiritual truths. Ours is an incarnational faith. Our heroes and heroines in the faith are not timeless mythical figures but real flesh-bone-and-blood human beings who lived and died at specific times and places in history. We honor their earthly remains to express our love for them and gratitude for their witness. Moreover, their physical presence in our cathedrals, churches, and shrines is a sign of their spiritual presence with us in the Communion of Saints, the fellowship of the living and the dead in Christ. (This is also the point of icons, paintings, statues, and other images.) So, we venerate Saint Stephen's relics on earth not just as an exercise in remembering the past, but also as an act of hope in his present prayers on our behalf, and our future fellowship with him in that realm where all members of Christ's Body shall be gathered and re-united face-to-face. Holy Stephen, Deacon and Protomartyr, pray for us! - Fr. John D. Alexander

THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS

Finding of the Relics of Saint Stephen

Psalm 31
Jeremiah 26:1-9, 12-15
Acts 6:8-7:2a, 51c-60, 8:1-2
Matthew 23:34-39

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Welcome to S. Stephen’s – especially to our visitors and guests! We’re glad to have you join us. Please join us for Coffee Hour following the 10 a.m. Mass in the Great Hall upstairs. If you have any questions or special needs, please speak to one of the ushers, who will be glad to assist you.

Summer Patronal Festival – This morning we celebrate the feast commemorating the finding of the relics of Saint Stephen in the year 415 by the priest Lucian at a place called Caphar-Gamala (modern Beit Jamal) near Jerusalem. Churches dedicated to Saint Stephen sometimes keep this feast as a second patronal festival in addition to Saint Stephen’s Day on December 26th. Veneration of the relic will take place in the Lady Chapel following the 10 am Mass.

Flowers – at the High Altar are given to the glory of God and in loving memory of Truman C. Bledsoe III by Tom Bledsoe.

Transfiguration Evensong and Benediction – will be offered this evening, 5 August (Eve of the Feast of the Transfiguration), at 5:30 pm. The guest preacher (and officiant at Evensong) will be the Rev. Canon Jeremy Haselock, recently retired Vice Dean and Canon Precentor at Norwich Cathedral in England, and a Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen. The Schola Cantorum will sing works of Heinrich Schütz, Harvey Burgett, Edward Elgar, and Marcel Dupré. There will be a reception afterwards in the Great Hall. Don’t miss what promises to be a splendid choral service. (It is not too late to sign up to bring food items to the reception; sign-up sheets will be available in the Narthex and Great Hall after both Masses today. Thanks.)

Mass for the Transfiguration – a principal Holy Day of the Church Year, will be offered tomorrow, Monday 6 August, in the Lady Chapel at 6 pm, preceded by Evening Prayer at 5:30. (Please note that owing to this celebration, the August monthly Requiem is postponed one week, to Monday the 13th.)

Wedding – the marriage of Frank Richard Pisaturo II and Nicola Damiano Burgio-Ferrara is now scheduled to take place at S. Stephen's on Saturday 22 September at 10 am, the Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, XIII Bishop of Rhode Island officiating.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – This summer, we are joining forces with our fellow Anglo-Catholic parishes of Saint John’s, Newport and All Saints, Ashmont to celebrate this principal Marian feast at 7 pm on Wednesday 15 August. The Mass will be at the Parish of All Saints, 209 Ashmont Street, Dorchester, MA. Website: Allsaints.net. The church is blessed with a spacious parking lot. Please speak to Jacob Ihnen or Fr. Alexander if you need a ride or would be willing to volunteer your services as a driver for other S. Stephen’s parishioners.

Choir Season – resumes on Sunday 30 September. In the meantime, the Sung Mass with Minor Propers sung by the Cantors will resume during the Labor Day weekend on Sunday 2 September. Kudos to everyone for the enthusiastic congregational singing during the summer months!

Sunday School and Nursery – We still need volunteers to assume responsibility for organizing Sunday School for the 2018-2019 Program Year (beginning in September). Please speak to Fr. Alexander or one of the Wardens (Tom Bledsoe or Bill Dilworth) if you would like to learn more and / or contribute your time to this crucial aspect of parish life.

FOR YOUR PRAYERS

Prayers have been requested for: Elizabeth, Richard, Norman, John, Shannah, Sister Carolyn, Lynne, William, Hannah, Kaitlyn, Mary, Gus, Leonard, Harrington, Joan, Elizabeth, Sandy, John, Phebe, Ed, Gregory, Richard, Colin, Sandy, Kiersten, Beverly, Deborah, Bryan, Angela, Bobby, Beverly, Allora, Carlos, Betsy, Rhoda, William, James, and Louis. And the Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop.

The faithful departed: Year’s Mind: Frances Cecilia Lawton (9 August 1983). Recently Departed: Sr. Mary Gabriel, SSM; Stephen P. Cowardin (Priest). Flower Memorials: Truman C. Bledsoe III.

Anglican and Diocesan Cycles of Prayer – In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for The Scottish Episcopal Church: The Most Rev’d Mark Strange, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church & Bishop of Moray, Ross & Caithness; in the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, for the people and clergy of Church of the Transfiguration, Cranston and of Christ Church, Lincoln and of Christ Church, Westerly.

THE SUNDAY ROTA

Acolytes – Acolyte/MC F Pisaturo; Thurifer J Starks
Lector – W Dilworth
Morning Ushers – Tom Oakes and Nancy Gingrich
Evening Ushers – George Ryan and Phoebe Pettingell
Coffee Hour – Modu Johnson

THIS WEEK AT S. STEPHEN’S

EXTRA-PAROCHIAL EVENTS HOSTED AT S. STEPHEN’S

Saturday 11 August
Epiphany Soup Kitchen 2:30 pm (Great Hall)

LITURGICAL CALENDAR & SERVICE SCHEDULE

5 August
FINDING OF THE RELICS OF SAINT STEPHEN (W)
(Transferred from August 3)
Morning Prayer 8:00 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Mass with Hymns 10:00 am

EVE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION
Choral Evensong and Benediction 5:30 pm

Daily Mass and Office Lectionaries: Proper 13, Year Two

Monday 6 August
TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD (W)
Xystus (Sixtus II), Pope and Martyr, 258
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6:00 pm

Tuesday 7 August
John Mason Neale, Priest, Scholar, Hymn Writer, 1866 (W)
Noonday Prayer 12:00 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Wednesday 8 August
Dominic, Friar, Founder of the Order of Preachers, 1221 (W)
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6:00 pm

Thursday 9 August
Herman of Alaska, Missionary, 1837 (W)
Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Nun, Martyr, Patron of Europe, 1942 (R)
Noonday Prayer 12:00 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Friday 10 August
Lawrence, Deacon at Rome, Martyr, 258 (R)
Noonday Prayer 12:00 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm

Saturday 11 August
Clare of Assisi, Founder of the Minoresses (Poor Clares), 1253 (W)

Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Mass 10:00 am

12 August
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (G)
Morning Prayer 8:00 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Mass with Hymns 10:00 am

NEXT SUNDAY'S READINGS (12 August)

Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 14, Year B 

Psalm 34:1-8
1 Kings 19:4-8
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51