Christmas

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. St. Lawrence was a Christian martyr who lived, and died, in the third century under great persecution of the Church by the Roman Emperor Valerian. In the period leading up to his death by being burned alive atop a grill like a steak, many other Christians had been rounded up and put to death, including the pope and multiple priests. The emperor, being greedy for the Church’s money, hoped to gain its treasures for himself. Thus, prior to his martyrdom, St. Lawrence… was summoned before a magistrate andRead More →

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In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Christmas Day text from Isaiah begins similarly to how the pericope from chapter seven did last Wednesday; a somewhat midstride proclamation set in developments of prophetic detail within a book resplendent with messianic language. If we back up to the beginning of tonight’s fifty-second chapter, Isaiah’s words begin their work of wrangling into our minds images of themes and aspects about the coming Christ encountered in the Church’s yearly cycle. The chapter begins, “Awake, awake!” likely conjuring up fresh memories of singing the stellar hymn “Wake, AwakeRead More →

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✠ Psalmody: Wisdom 18:14–15a;Psalm 93:1a, b;45:2a, 1;93:1a, b;93:1b–2;St. Matthew 2:20 ✠ Lection: Jeremiah 31:31-34;Galatians 4:1–7;St. Luke 2:33-40 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. As if the holiday season stretching from Thanksgiving through the New Year isn’t active enough with the number of things we pack into our personal lives with parties, family gatherings, shopping, cooking, and napping, the calendar of the Church also allows us a ton of observances itself. There’s the usual addition of a mid-week Advent services. Then, there’s Christmas Eve with the possibility of two services on that same day: The Service ofRead More →

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Psalmody: Isaiah 9:6a; Psalm 98:1a;98:3b-4a, 2;89:11, 14a;98:3bLection: Isaiah 52:6-10;Hebrews 1:1-12;St. John 1:1–14 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the beginning…of December, we entered the season of Advent, looking forward to the coming of Christ in the manger, in the Holy Supper, and in the clouds on the Last Day. We withheld the Gloria in Excelsis from our liturgy to further prepare our minds and hearts for the Christmas joy of singing it once again; Glory be to God on high! The multitude of the heavenly host of angels burst forth at the birthRead More →