Calendar
Choral Evensong
Sunday, February 12, 2012
4:00pm - Saint Thomas Church
The three Sundays prior to Ash Wednesday are not ten days apart (that would indeed be quite miraculous), but nevertheless tradition gives these three "Gesima Sundays" the prefixes of Septua (70), Sexa (60), and Quinqua (50) as a countdown toward Lent. Quinquagesima is indeed 50 days before Easter, but Sexagesima and Septua aren't quite 60 and 70. Lent itself is that 40 day period (excluding Sundays, which traditionally are not penetential) from Ash Wendnesday to the Great Vigil on Holy Saturday.
In 2012, Septuagesima falls on the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. In 2011, Septuagesima fell on the Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany. How can this be?
Epiphany is always on January 6, beginning immediately after the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25 through January 5). We then have a period of "Sundays after Epiphany." However, the number of these Sundays after Epiphany varies because, beginning with Ash Wednesday, the church calendar switches over to its paschal cycle, which is determined not by fixed calendar dates (such as December 25, January 6 and February 2), but rather by the movable date of Easter, which the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 established as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following the northern hemisphere's vernal equinox. The date of Easter can fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. That's quite a wide range.
Therefore, the "Sundays after the Epiphany" also have a wide range, because they have to fill the gap between the fixed date of Epiphany (January 6) through to the moveable date of Ash Wednesday (always 40 days before Easter, excluding Sundays). Sometimes there are only five Sundays after the Epiphany; sometimes there are nine. However many there are, the last three are always the gesima Sundays.
Collect:
O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in thee: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because, through the weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Today at Choral Evensong, Fr Spurlock preaches Sermon 3 of our 15-part series on prayer called "Lord, Teach Us to Pray." The sermon today is on the first phrase of the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father, who art in heaven." See the complete list of sermons in the series here.
About Choral Evensong: Based on the services held daily in the medieval Church, Choral Evensong as arranged in the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church has been sung regularly since the Sixteenth Century. Many people who are new to worship at Saint Thomas prefer to come to Choral Evensong because it is relatively passive. The service includes readings (just as would occur at Evening Prayer) and prayers led by a priest. An anthem as well as a setting of the Magnificat and the Nunc dimittis are sung by the choir. Read more about Choral Evensong here, or view the Choral Evensong Service Card posted to the bottom of this page, where links to the webcast will be posted during and after the service.
►There is no Mass following Choral Evensong on Sundays. If you would like to make your Holy Communion for the week, consider attending one of the morning Eucharists, or else at any of the other sixteen masses at Saint Thomas later this week.
►The Senior Boys of the Choir have been invited to sing in Dresden, Germany on February 13 & 14, and are away February 8 through 15. They sing in collaboration with St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir, London and the Dresden Staatskapelle in the first performances of Dresden Requiem by Lera Auerbach.
Tobias Niederschlag writes, "the concert in Dresden resembles Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem of 1962, where similar artists were chosen to underline the reconciliation of nations which were at enmity during the war. In contrast to Britten, the score of the Dresden Requiem only includes male singing voices. " Read more about the performances here.
Because of the Dresden trip, today's choral services are sung by the Junior Choristers alongside the Gentlemen of the Choir.
►If you are new to Saint Thomas, new to the Episcopal Church, and/or new to Christianity, consider attending the Rector's Christian Doctrine Class, which began anew on Tuesday, January 10 and continues on Tuesday, February 14 at 6:30pm.
| Officiant: | Fr Mead |
| Preacher: | Fr Spurlock |
| Lesson: | Isaiah 62:6-12 |
| Lesson 2: | I Timothy 3:14—4:10 |
| Sung by: | The Junior Choristers and The Gentlemen of The Choir |
| Prelude: | Aria, from ‘In Mystery and Wonder’, Dan Locklair (b. 1949) |
| Responses: | Dan Locklair |
| Psalm: | 46, Anglican Chant (Luther) |
| Service: | Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B minor, T. Tertius Noble |
| Anthem: | Verleih uns Frieden, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) |
| Voluntary: | Adagio, from ‘Sonata in F, Op. 65, No. 1’, Felix Mendelssohn |
| Hymn: |
511 Holy Spirit, ever dwelling ABBOT’S LEIGH |
| Hymn 2: |
302 Father, we thank thee, who hast planted RENDEZ À DIEU |
Sermon:
Sermon Text |
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