
Mass Schedule – Trinity XXIII (Oct. 30, 2016)
31, Vigil
of All Saints
01, All Saints’ Day
02, All Souls’ Day
03, Of the Octave
04, Of the Octave
05, S. Elizabeth, Mother of John Baptist
+ All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day, Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints, is a Christian Feast Day celebrated in honour of all the saints, known and unknown. It occurs on different dates in different Christian traditions. Western Catholic jurisdictions of the Church celebrate All Saints’ Day on 1 November, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglo Catholic churches. Meanwhile, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost as “The Sunday of All Saints.”
+ According to the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth was “of the daughters of Aaron.” She and her husband Zacharias were childless, but while he was in the Temple of the Lord (Luke 1:8-12), Zacharias was visited by the angel Gabriel: “But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.” (Luke 1:13–15) Zacharias doubted the message since he and his wife were very old. The angel identified himself as Gabriel and told Zacharias that he would be “dumb, and not able to speak” until the words were fulfilled, because he did not believe. When the days of his ministry were complete, he returned to his house: “After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” (Luke 1:24–25) According to the account, the angel Gabriel was then sent to Nazareth in Galilee to her relative Mary, a virgin, espoused to a man called Joseph, and informed her that she would conceive by the Holy Ghost and bring forth a son to be called Jesus. After she was also informed that her “relative Elizabeth” had begun her sixth month of pregnancy, she travelled to “Hebron, in the hill country of Judah”, to visit Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Luke 1:41–45
+ All Saints Men’s Group will meets next on Tuesday, November 8, at 7:00 a.m. in undercroft.
+ Our Monday Morning Bible Study will meet next on Monday, November 7, 10:00 a.m.
+ The Holy Communion is celebrated Monday through Saturday at 12:15 p.m.
+ All Saints parishioner may obtain a Mass card from the Church office. A Mass card is a greeting card given to someone to inform him or her that a deceased loved one or friend was remembered and prayed for at a weekly Mass. It is a specifically Christian way to express one’s love. Call Julie McDermott at the Church office (434-979-2842) and she will help you fill out the form. The celebrant will sign the card and we will mail it from the Church to the family of the loved one.