Posted by John Strobl on March 31, 2010 under From The Rector | 
Triduum
A period of three days of preparation for a feast day. The term is most frequently used for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, the three days prior to Easter Sunday that are the concluding days of Holy Week, also known as the Easter Triduum. Other usage for the Easter Triduum reckons the days from the evening of Maundy Thursday through the evening of Easter Day. The term may indicate any three-day period of preparation for a feast.
Posted by John Strobl on March 20, 2010 under Featured |
The Great Vigil of Easter April 3, 8:00 p.m .
The liturgy intended as the first (and arguably, the primary) celebration of Easter in the BCP (pp. 284-95). It is also known as the Great Vigil. The service begins in darkness, sometime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter, and consists of four parts: The Service of Light (kindling of new fire, lighting the Paschal candle, the Exsultet); The Service of Lessons (readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers); Christian Initiation (Holy Baptism) or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows; and the Eucharist. Through this liturgy, the BCP recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness ending at dawn on Easter to hear scripture and offer prayer. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist. Easter was the primary baptismal occasion for the early church to the practical exclusion of all others. This practice linked the meanings of Christ’s dying and rising to the understanding of baptism.
Posted by John Strobl on March 13, 2010 under General |
The St. James’ Easter Egg Hunt will be held after the 9am Service on Easter Sunday April 4 around 9:50am.
Easter, perhaps the most widely recognized Christian holiday, employs pagan rituals and symbolism. This is in large part because the Catholic church, hoping to convert pagans, incorporated these symbols and practices. Easter eggs are an example of this. Eggs have long been a symbol of fertility and new life. People of ancient Persia, Greece and Rome dyed eggs to celebrate their New Year, which occurred on the spring equinox, and medieval Europeans presented intricately dyed eggs as gifts. In Greece, eggs are dyed crimson to represent the blood of Christ shed on the cross for the sins of mankind
Posted by John Strobl on under General |
Stations of the Cross Service at 12 Noon on Good Friday April 2, 2010, Fr Carl will be having Stations of the Cross followed by Bendiction of the Holy Eucharist.
The Stations of the Cross, or in Latin the Via Crucis, tell the story of the Passion of Jesus Christ in fourteen steps or stations. Walking the Stations is a tradition for Roman Catholics and also Anglicans and Lutherans. It is a common Lenten practice. Most of the stations come directly from Scripture while the others come from tradition.
The tradition to walk the path of the Stations of the Cross developed for the faithful to better contemplate the events of The Passion of Jesus Christ. The Stations were first only at the historical sites of the Passion, however European Christians on pilgrimage to the Holy Land took the idea of the Stations home with them, and made their own versions of the holy walk.
There are two traditions to the development of the Stations. The first tradition holds that the path of the Stations follows the route the Blessed Virgin Mary took after Jesus Christ’s resurrection. The other tradition is linked to St. Francis of Assisi and his followers who popularized the first Stations of the Cross when they were given custody of the holy sites in Jerusalem in the 14th century.
Posted by John Strobl on March 6, 2010 under Featured |
Saturday March 20 is the date for the St. James’ Auction. We will be auctioning off collectibles, glassware, paintings, prints and services (musical lessons, donated dinner, yard work etc.). To benefit the St. James’ building fund.
Mark Vail of Mark Vail Auction Company, of Pine Bush will be conducting the Auction. The Auction preview will be held from 4:00pm – 6:00pm, with the Auction beginning at 6:00pm.
SALE HELD AT ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH, GOSHEN, NY. Meissen Blue Onion covered vegetable; set 4 antlered deer head silver plate goblets; Staffordshire “Ontario Lake Scenery” platter and vegetable; Royal China International pitcher and bowl set; set of 12 mother of pearl handled fruit knives by Harrison Bros. & Howsen, Sheffield; Waterford; etched vase signed Tiffany & Co.; deer antlers; large early wooden carriage wheels; child’s Massey Ferguson peddle tractor with cart; oak side by side. Click on View Photo Gallery to see some photos of some of the items that will be auctioned off. Some services to be auctioned off include a week in a Vermont condo, a will, financial advising and dinners at restaurants and people’s homes. and much MORE!
Call Ed Connor at 845-294-2474 with any questions on the Auction. Dirrections to St. James’ are on the left side of the page on the web site.
You can preview some auction items here. or http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photopanel.cgi?listingid=820703&category=0&zip=&kwd=
Join us for food, wine, desserts, coffee and tea.
Posted by John Strobl on March 4, 2010 under From The Rector |
Paschal Candle
A large candle that symbolizes the risen Christ. It is often decorated with a cross, symbols of the resurrection, the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, and the year. The term “Paschal” concerns Easter or Passover. At the Easter Vigil, the Paschal candle is lit from the new fire. It is carried by the deacon, who pauses three times and sings or says, “The light of Christ,” and the people respond, “Thanks be to God.” The Paschal candle is carried by the celebrant if there is no deacon. After it is carried to the chancel, its flame may be used to light candles held by members of the congregation. This symbolizes the spreading of the light of Christ into the congregation and the world. The Exsultet is sung or said after the Paschal candle is placed in its stand. It is customary for the Paschal candle to burn at all services from Easter through Pentecost (BCP, pp. 285-287).After the Easter season, the Paschal candle is typically placed near the font. It should burn at baptisms, representing the new life in Christ that we share in baptism. The newly baptized person may be given a small baptismal candle that is lit from the Paschal candle. It may also be carried in procession at burials and placed near the coffin as a symbol of resurrection life.
Posted by John Strobl on under From The Rector |
Easter Sunday April 4th, no 7:30 a.m. Service, 9:00 a.m. Family Eucharist followed by Easter Egg Hunt. 10:15 a.m. Festal Eucharist of the Resurrection & Special Coffee Hour to follow in the Parish Hall.
Easter April 4
The feast of Christ’s resurrection. According to Bede, the word derives from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre. Christians in England applied the word to the principal festival of the church year, both day and season. Easter Day is the annual feast of the resurrection, the pascha or Christian Passover, and the eighth day of cosmic creation. Faith in Jesus’ resurrection on the Sunday or third day following his crucifixion is at the heart of Christian belief. Easter sets the experience of springtime next to the ancient stories of deliverance and the proclamation of the risen Christ. In the west, Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Easter always falls between Mar. 22 and Apr. 25 inclusive. Following Jewish custom, the feast begins at sunset on Easter Eve with the Great Vigil of Easter. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Easter on the first Sunday after the Jewish pesach or Passover (which follows the spring full moon). Although the two dates sometimes coincide, the eastern date is often one or more weeks later.
Posted by John Strobl on under From The Rector |
The Good Friday Liturgy will begin at 7:30 p.m. on April 2nd.
Good Friday
The Friday before Easter Day, on which the church commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a day of fasting and special acts of discipline and self-denial. In the early church candidates for baptism, joined by others, fasted for a day or two before the Paschal feast. In the west the first of those days eventually acquired the character of historical reenactment of the passion and death of Christ. The liturgy of the day includes John’s account of the Passion gospel, a solemn form of intercession known as the solemn collects (dating from ancient Rome), and optional devotions before the cross (commonly known as the veneration of the cross). The eucharist is not celebrated in the Episcopal Church on Good Friday, but Holy Communion may be administered from the reserved sacrament at the Good Friday service. The BCP appoints readings for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer on Good Friday.
Posted by John Strobl on under From The Rector |
The Maundy Thursday Service at St. James’ will be at 6:00 p.m. April 1st. Consisting of a Solemn Eucharist, the Footwashing and Stripping of the Altar followed by an Agape Meal (meatless) in the St. James’ Parish Hall & the all night Prayer Vigil (in the Chapel) before the Altar of Repose.
Maundy Thursday
The Thursday in Holy Week. It is part of the Triduum, or three holy days before Easter. It comes from the Latin mandatum novum, “new commandment,” from Jn 13:34. The ceremony of washing feet was also referred to as “the Maundy.” Maundy Thursday celebrations also commemorate the institution of the eucharist by Jesus “on the night he was betrayed.” Egeria, a fourth-century pilgrim to Jerusalem, describes elaborate celebrations and observances in that city on Maundy Thursday. Special celebration of the institution of the eucharist on Maundy Thursday is attested by the Council of Hippo in 381. The Prayer Book liturgy for Maundy Thursday provides for celebration of the eucharist and a ceremony of the washing of feet which follows the gospel and homily. There is also provision for the consecration of the bread and wine for administering Holy Communion from the reserved sacrament on Good Friday. Following this, the altar is stripped and all decorative furnishings are removed from the church.
Posted by John Strobl on under From The Rector |
THE SUNDAY OF THE PASSION-PALM SUNDAY: MARCH 28 10:15 a.m. The Litugy of the Palms & Procession followed by the Holy Eucharist, Rite Two. The Children will attend a special Church School Holy Week program. THERE WILL BE NO 7:30 A.M. OR 9:00 A.M. SERVICES ON THIS DATE.Palm Sunday (The Sunday of the Passion)
Palm Sunday (The Sunday of the Passion)
When the service includes the eucharist, the liturgy of the palms is followed by the salutation and the collect of the day. The service changes focus abruptly from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the solemnity of the Passion. In the 1979 BCP, the Passion gospel is drawn from one of the three synoptic accounts of the Passion, one of which is appointed for each of the three years in the eucharistic lectionary. The Passion gospel is announced simply, “The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to _________.” The customary responses before and after the gospel are omitted (BCP, p. 272). The Passion gospel may be read or chanted by lay persons. Specific roles may be assigned to different persons, with the congregation taking the part of the crowd (BCP, p. 273). It is customary to observe a brief time of silence when the moment of Jesus’ death is described by the narrator. The Hymnal 1982 provides a variety of hymns concerning the Passion, including “Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle” (Hymns 165-166), “O sacred head, sore wounded” (Hymns 168-169), and “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” (Hymn 172).
