Saint Mary the Virgin, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Collect of the Day
O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
~BCP pg. 243

The Psalm
34:1-9

The Readings
Isaiah 61:10-11 + Galatians 4:4-7 + Luke 1:46-55

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God . . . as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
~ Isaiah 61:10

August 15 is observed in the Roman Catholic Church as the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Among the Orthodox it is called the Dormition ("Falling Asleep") of the Theotokos. In both cases, the feast reflects the ancient belief that at her death, Mary was taken up, body and soul, to glory--to the presence of God. Though the Anglican tradition has never officially affirmed such a belief, it also does not deny it. Today's collect, in language at once reserved and solemn, demonstrates the Anglican characteristic of seeking to say neither too much nor too little about the deep mysteries of faith.

But I will nevertheless venture here to say something. Regardless of one's views (or agnosticism) about the end of Mary's earthly life, the traditional doctrine points to and is undergirded by a central article of faith: "the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come." As always, Mary does not point to herself, but to her Son--and by extension, to all who are in Christ. "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his" (Rom. 6:5). Christians do not profess hope in some future of eternal disembodiment, nor in a vast, cosmic sea in which all individuality is obliviated. Rather, we profess by faith that we shall be raised, in the totality of our being. Whatever that mystery may look like ("raised a spiritual body," as St. Paul puts it in I Cor. 15), our Christian hope is that we shall be more, not less, than we were--more fully ourselves than ever before. And perhaps it is not too much to imagine that the body of the one who carried and bore the eternal Word of God into the world is already there where we shall by grace also be--the fullness of her being exulting in the glory of God her Savior.   

Closing Prayer

Anthem to the Theotokos
(from Saint Augustine's Prayer Book, p. 392; Greek Orthodox Hymn)

Into his joy, the Lord has received you,
Virgin God-bearer, Mother of Christ.
You have beheld the King in his beauty,
Mary, daughter of Israel.
You have made answer for the creation
to the redeeming will of God.
Light, fire, and life, divine and immortal,
Joined to our human nature you have brought forth,
    that to the glory of God the Father,
    heaven and earth might be restored. Amen.

Sunset at Saint Mary's, Sewanee

The Great Vigil of Easter

The Great Vigil, when observed, is the first service of Easter Day. It is celebrated at a convenient time between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Morning.

In the darkness, fire is kindled …

~from the opening rubrics for the Great Vigil in the Book of Common Prayer

The Easter Vigil, as contained in the Prayer Book, is based upon one of the earliest known liturgies of the church, dating to at least the second century. In the early church (and still today in the Eastern Orthodox churches), it was a true vigil that lasted throughout the night, with multiple readings culminating in baptisms and the first eucharist of Easter. Our celebration at St. Timothy's will be more modest; however, the structure of the service will remain that which has formed the principal liturgy of the church for two millennia.

The liturgy begins after sunset with the kindling of a new flame, from which the Paschal Candle is lighted. This candle burns throughout the Great Fifty Days of Easter (it is also lighted at every baptism and every burial, regardless of when in the year they occur). The congregation bears candles lighted from the same, and the Deacon (or a person appointed) chants the Exsultet—an ancient hymn-prayer, which praises God for the victory of Christ’s resurrection. The faithful are then invited to “hear the record of God’s saving deeds in history” in the scriptures that follow, leading up to the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection and the Easter Gospel.

It is one of the curiosities of language that English speaking countries are alone in using the word Easter for this central Christian celebration. In almost every other language, the term for this day is the same as that used for the Jewish Passover—Pascha. More than any other liturgy, the Great Vigil makes this connection explicit to draw us into “the paschal mystery.” In the words of the late Marion Hatchett, one of the chief editors of the Prayer Book, “In the Great Vigil of Easter we celebrate and make present the pivotal events of the Old and New Testament heritage, the passover of the Hebrews from the bondage of slavery in Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land, the passover of our Lord Jesus Christ from death, and our own passover from the bondage of sin and death to the glorious liberty of new life in Christ Jesus.”

This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave...

The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple

The Collect

Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Psalm
84

The Readings
Malachi 3:1-4     +     Hebrews 2:14-18     +     Luke 2:22-40

"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."
~Luke 2:29-32

Today's feast is full to overflowing in its imagery. The presentation of Jesus in the temple, as Luke relates it, was in accordance with the Mosaic Law. According to Exodus 13, the firstborn was to be dedicated to the Lord, and following Leviticus 12, a woman presented an offering to the priest for her ritual purification forty days after the birth of a male child. Hence, the date of this feast, February 2, forty days after Christmas, as well as its alternate title: the Purification of St. Mary the Virgin. The day has yet a third name: Candlemas. Traditionally, this is the day on which candles for the coming year are blessed--an appropriate occasion, given Simeon's recognition, by the Spirit, of Jesus as the Christ, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.*

Taken together, the readings continue to unfold the significance of this commemoration. This helpless and unassuming infant, recognized by the prophets Simeon and Anna, is in fact the Lord, suddenly come to his temple. The child submitting to the law is in fact the incarnation of the God who gave the law. The baby presented to the priest is himself the great high priest of God, who through his death will destroy the one who has the power of death for all humankind, and present them pure before the Lord.

This feast is an example of the multitude of meanings that can be present in a single commemoration. This is so often the case when we begin to look closer at the Bible and the tradition of the church--there is always more there to be seen. The themes on this particular day include, but are not limited to: the beauty of the house of the Lord, and of God's presence there; faithfulness to the commandments of the Lord; waiting on God, and the surprises and challenges that can accompany the fulfilment of God's promises; the meeting of the Old and the New in Jesus; the juxtaposition of the coming of the Lord in power (and who can stand when he appears?) with God's coming in poverty as a baby; God's own initiative and action to save; Jesus as the Christ and the Light of the world.

Choose one of these themes (or another). Read again through the readings with that theme in mind, and see what the Spirit may speak to you.

Closing Prayer
O Lord God, through your prophets Simeon and Anna you revealed your Son Jesus as the light of the nations and the glory of Israel. Grant that, by your Holy Spirit, we may live by the light of faith until we come to the light of glory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

* If you are not already in the habit of praying Compline, consider doing so tonight, and light a candle, in observation of Candlemas. It is a brief and beautiful way to end the day in prayer. It begins on page 127 of the Book of Common Prayer, and concludes with Canticle 17, the Song of Simeon. 

The Incarnation Cycle: Christmastide & Epiphany

Now to the Lord sing praises all you within this place,

and with true love and charity each other now embrace;

this holy tide of Christmas doth bring redeeming grace.

O tidings of comfort and joy!

~Hymn 105 

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us . . .

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.     

~Luke 2.15,19

Merry Christmas--still! While much of the world packs up the Christmas decorations by the evening of December 25, in the church the celebration has only just started. After our season of preparation during Advent, we joyously celebrate the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ--and the party continues for twelve days! Several additional holy days follow directly on the heels of Christmas Day, including, on December 28, the commemoration of the Holy Innocents slaughtered by Herod. This season is not simply about warm hearths and nostalgia, but is about the inbreaking of God's work of salvation for us, and the violence with which it is met by the powers of this world.

The civil calendar rolls over in the middle of Christmastide. January 1 marks not only a new year, but also for us the octave of Christmas. Eight days after we celebrated the Savior's birth, we celebrate his naming: Jesus, the name that is our salvation.

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.     

~Luke 2.21

Immediately following the twelve-day season of Christmas, on January 6 the church celebrates the feast of the Epiphany, also called the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. The Prayer Book commends it as one of the seven principal feasts of the church year, and it is one of the most ancient (probably only Easter predates it in observance). 

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.     

~Matthew 2.1-2

Epiphany means “appearing” or “manifestation.” What appears, what is brought to light for all the world, is none other than God in the flesh. The Gospel on Epiphany relates the adoration of the “wise men.” These magi were not Jews. They were probably Persian priests and astrologers, and yet they bow in worship and acknowledge as king a Jewish infant, enthroned on the lap of his peasant girl mother. The other manifestations associated with Epiphany are Christ’s baptism (observed the following Sunday), and the beginning of his miraculous signs at the wedding in Cana.

Through Christmastide, Epiphany, and the weeks following--a season and cycle of the Incarnation--we are presented with an opportunity. As the earth turns and the light grows, pray for grace to see, hear, and believe. Like Mary, for grace to treasure these things and ponder them. Like the shepherds, for faith to believe the good news and to hasten to act on it. Like the magi, for devotion to seek out the Christ, and humble wisdom to find him in unexpected places. Like John at the Jordan, for ears to hear the voice of God that confirms the Beloved.

Songs of thankfulness and praise, Jesus, Lord, to thee we raise,

manifested by the star to the sages from afar;
Branch of royal David’s stem, in thy birth at Bethlehem;
anthems be to thee addressed, God in man made manifest.
~Hymn 135

Adoration of the Magi (tapestry, 1894; designed by Edward Burnes-Jones)

Saint Andrew the Apostle

 The Collect of the Day

Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give us, who are called by your holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Psalm

19

The Readings

Deuteronomy 30:11-14     +     Romans 10:8b-18     +      Matthew 4:18-22

"The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe."

~Deut. 30:14

"Evangelical" is a word that has come to have various connotations (religious, political, social). Many people have negative associations with the word, often for good reason. But that is also tragic, for the word is inseparable from the gospel. In fact, the word comes from the Greek euangelion, which means "good news"--the gospel. To be essentially evangelical, then, is to be one who believes and lives the gospel. To be an evangelist is to seek to spread the word of that good news: "Here is life! I have found it in Jesus."

Andrew was evangelical in this way. Today's reading from Matthew's Gospel has him being called to the work of a disciple and evangelist along with his brother, Simon Peter, but John's Gospel tells it differently: Andrew is called first, and he goes immediately and tells his brother about it, and brings him to Jesus.

At bottom, evangelism consists of this: bringing people to Jesus. That bringing will inevitably involve some sharing of our own story and experience of the word of life that God has put within us. But there is no one right way to do this, no formula or approved program. Speak what you know. Share what you have experienced. And pray for grace to bring those near to you into the gracious presence of Jesus. 

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for the life we have in you. Help us to be both courageous and sincere in sharing the blessing of your life and presence with those near and dear to us, that the word you have implanted in us may be ever growing.  Amen.

Icon of St. Andrew, written by the Rev. Paige Blair

The Transfiguration

The Collect

O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Psalm

99

The Readings

Exodus 34:29-35     +     II Peter 1:13-21     +     Luke 9:28-36

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

~Luke 9:28-30

An excerpt from The Dwelling of the Light: Praying with Icons of Christ, by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams:

The dark background against which Jesus is shown is something you will see in other icons as a way of representing the depths of heavenly reality. In the transfiguration, what the disciples see is, as you might say, Jesus' humanity 'opening up' to its inner dimensions. It is rather like the Hindu story of the infant Krishna, told by his mother to open his mouth to see if he has been eating mud; she looks in, and sees the whole universe in the dark interior of his throat. So the disciples look at Jesus, and see him as coming out from an immeasurable depth; behind or within him, infinity opens up, 'the dwelling of the light', to borrow the haunting phrase from Job 38.19. Mark 1.38 reports Jesus as saying that he has 'come out' so that he can proclaim the good news; and John's Gospel too uses the language of coming out from the depths of the Father (John 16.27-30). Belief in Jesus is seeing him as the gateway to an endless journey into God's love. The often-noted fact that icons show the lines of perspective reversed, so that they converge on your eye, not on a vanishing point in the distance within the picture, is a way of telling us that, once again, what is true of Jesus lies at the heart of all this style of painting: we are being taught to look through into the deep wells of life and truth. 

 

Commemoration of the First Book of Common Prayer

Sing to the Lord a new song; 

    sing to the Lord, all the whole earth.

Sing to the Lord and bless his Name;

    proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations

    and his wonders among all peoples.

        (Psalm 96.1-3)

Peter said to them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.' And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2.38-39,42)

V.    Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;

R.   Govern and uphold them, now and always.

V.    Day by day we bless you;

R.   We praise your Name for ever.

 
Almighty and everliving God, whose servant Thomas Cranmer, with others, restored the language of the people in the prayers of your Church: Make us always thankful for this heritage; and help us so to pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, that we may worthily magnify your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

From 'Lesser Feasts and Fasts':
'The First Book of Common Prayer came into use on the Day of Pentecost, June 9, 1549, in the second year of the reign of King Edward the Sixth. From it have descended all subsequent editions and revisions of the Book in the Churches of the Anglican Communion. Though prepared by a commission of learned bishops and priests, the format, substance, and style of the Prayer Book were primarily the work of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury . . . The originality of the Prayer Book, apart from the felicitous translations and paraphrases of the old Latin forms, lay in its simplification of the complicated liturgical usages of the medieval Church, so that it was suitable for use by the laity as well as by the clergy. The Book thus became both a manual of common worship for Anglicans and a primary resource for their personal spirituality.'

The service of Mattins (Daily Morning Prayer) from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.