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April 2004 (Day light savings time begins 2am April 4th-Palm Sunday) from
the Rector... Greetings in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to thank each and every one of you for welcoming Catharine and me into your parish family. We truly feel loved and welcomed. It is an honor to be among such loving and faithful people. We have been through the better part of a liturgical year with you all and now find ourselves deep in the dark wilderness of Lent. The altar flowers are gone and the hangings in the church denote our journey of penitence. Gone are the shouts of Alleluia and the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory be to God on High), the traditional hymn glorifying the Incarnation of Our Lord, has been removed so that we may spend these forty days contemplating our own mortality and the salvation offered to us by Christ's sacrifice on Calvary. Mel Gibson's The Passion, the movie that everyone seems to be talking about, is a source of discussion as many contemplate the Via Dolorosa (or The Stations of the Cross). We at Saint Paul's have throughout this Lenten season been faithful to that ancient devotion. We have walked that Via Dolorosa each and every Friday of Lent. And with each meditation on Our Lord's Passion, we have been able to glimpse His Resurrection…for immediately following the Stations of the Cross we have taken part in the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, which is a wonderful opportunity to worship and reflect on all Christ has given us through the Holy Eucharist, called the Sacrament of Immortality. There is still time to walk the path of the Passion with us and bathe in the glory of that most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We here at St. Paul's are looking forward in faith to the Triduum, which are the three holy days that will break the bonds of our Lenten darkness. We invite you to come to worship with us as we remember that holy night when we remember the Last Supper and the institution of the Holy Eucharist. We invite you to the Good Friday service as we remember and venerate Christ's death on the Cross. We invite you to that most holy of nights, the Easter Vigil, when the Paschal Candle is lit and we rejoice with the Church throughout the ages singing this ancient hymn… "This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave." Please make every effort to attend these services that recount salvation in our Lord- more information can be found in this edition of the Messenger as well as your service bulletin, calendar and on our webpage. I pray that you all are well and able to keep up your Lenten disciplines. Please know that this, my parish family is in my daily prayers as we all walk through the darkness of Lent looking forward with faith and hope to that holy Sunday when we celebrate Our Lord's resurrection. The Grace and Mercy of Our Lord be with you all:
Parish
Register... Congratulations to Pattie and Dan Montgomery on the birth of a new son, James, on Monday March 1, 2004. Mother and son are doing well. Brother & sister Peter & Elinor are excited to have James join the clan. Also we pray God's blessing on the newest addition to the Dubiel Family. Son Roberto joined Karen, Mike & sister Josie last month. All traveled safe and are happy to be at home. Roberto was born in Guatemala. Another blessing, Another seminarian: Tip
of the Biretta... To everyone who attended Mardi Gras this year and helped the Altar Guild raise some much needed funds. (Flower contributions have gone way down this year, an expense the Altar Guild tries to cover.) To Joe Warren & Lillian Gunnar for hosting and working the extra time needed to host the FIF/na Chicago Chapter Meetings. To Gloria, Elorine, & Ellie for hosting the Lenten Walsingham Prayer Day Cell Meeting with a lovely Continental Breakfast. To our Friday night Soup & Bread Chefs serving us some really wonderful Lenten style suppers while we discuss the mission and outreach of our parish here in Rogers Park. To faithful members so willing and eager and complementary on the Lenten Friday night series "Basics of the Faith" presented by the rector. To Our Seminarians for their fine sermons preached during
Lent and help with the Sunday Morning Bible Study and Sunday Evening
ISH Bible Studies. We are blessed with such fine young men studying
for the priesthood to be working in our parish while in Seminary.
Special
March Events...
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