Septuagesima

In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the Divine Service, we make use of ordinaries and propers, words given to describe the parts of the liturgy by which we are blessed every time we gather. Ordinaries are all the parts that ordinarily show up in their exact same form, week-in and week-out. The Preparation, The Kyrie, The Gloria in Excelsis, The Nicene Creed, The Offertory, The Lord’s Prayer, andThe Words of Institution are all examples of ordinaries. They occur in every Divine Service in the exact same form. The propers, on the other hand,Read More →

✠ Psalmody: Psalm 18:4a, 5a, 6a, c, 18:1-2a; Psalm 9:9b–10, 18–19a; Psalm 130:1–4; Psalm 92:1; Psalm 31:16–17a ✠ Lection: Daniel 9:2-10; 1 Corinthians 9:24—10:4; Matthew 20:1–16 In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So, the last will be first, and the first last. With these words, the dear Lord Jesus calls us to judge wisely and correctly, to make necessary distinction between truth and lie, between labor and idleness, between good and evil, between how God sees us and how we see Him. Such distinctions are necessary in this life, for the need to cultivate and laborRead More →

(printed on bulletin insert on February 9, 2025) adapted from: Rev. Stefan Michael Gramenz, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Christ the King, Pawling, NY Next Sunday, we will begin the season of Septuagesima, sometimes also called “Gesimatide” or “Pre-Lent,” a period of three Sundays that leads up to Ash Wednesday. Septuagesima is related to the Latin word for “Seventy,” and is roughly seventy days before Easter. The following Sunday is Sexagesima, about sixty days before Easter, and then follows Quinquagesima, about fifty days before Easter. This brief season of the Church’s year looks back to the Biblical account of the Israelites’ seventy-year captivity in exile inRead More →