Mass Schedule – Week of Ascension I (June 1, 2014)
2, Martyrs of Lyons, 177 A.D.
3, Feria
4, Feria
5, St. Boniface, 755 A.D.
6, Feria
7, Feria
+ At Lyons and Vienne, in Gaul, there were missionary centers, which had drawn many Christians from Asia and Greece. Persecution began in 177. At first, Christians were excluded from the public baths, the market place, and from social and public life. They were subject to attack when they appeared in public, and many Christian homes were vandalized. At this point the government became involved, and began to take Christians into custody for questioning. Some slaves from Christian households were tortured to obtain confessions, and were induced to say that Christians practiced cannibalism and incest. These charges were used to arouse the whole city against the Christians, particularly against Pothinus, the aged bishop of Lyons; Sanctus, a deacon; Attalus; Maturus, a recent convert; and Blandina, a slave. Pothinus was beaten and then released, to die of his wounds a few days later. Sanctus was tormented with red-hot irons. Blandina, tortured all day long, would say nothing except, “I am a Christian, and nothing vile is done among us.” Finally, the survivors were put to death in the public arena. (From Biographical Sketches, J.E. Kiefer)
+ Wynfrith, nicknamed Boniface (“good deeds”), was born around 680 near Crediton in Devonshire, England. When he was five, he listened to some monks who were staying at his father’s house. They had returned from a mission to the pagans on the continent, and Boniface was so impressed by them that he resolved to follow their example. Although his father had intended him for a secular career, he gave way to his son’s entreaties and sent him at the age of seven to a monastery school. He eventually became director of the school at Nursling, in Winchester, where he wrote the first Latin grammar in England, and gave lectures that were widely copied and circulated. At thirty, he was ordained and set out to preach in Friesland (overlaps with modern Holland), whence he was soon expelled because of war between its heathen king and Charles Martel of France. Boniface, after a brief withdrawal, went into Hesse and Bavaria, having secured the support of the Pope and of Charles Martel for his work there. In Hesse, in the presence of a large crowd of pagans, he cut down the Sacred Oak of Geismar, a tree of immense age and girth, sacred to the god Thor. It is said that after only a few blows of his axe, the tree tottered and crashed to the ground, breaking into four pieces and revealing itself to be rotted away within. It was the beginning of a highly successful missionary effort, and the planting of a vigorous Christian church in Germany, where Boniface was eventually consecrated bishop. He asked the Christian Saxons of England to support his work among their kinsmen on the continent, and they responded with money, books, supplies, and above all, with a steady supply of monks to assist him in teaching and preaching. (From Biographical Sketches, J.E. Kiefer)
+ Perrin Godbold is off to Oxford today and he is the first recipient of what some are calling The All Saints Young Scholar Award which hopefully will be awarded on an occasional basis to young men or women who have completed their first year of undergraduate education with distinction and who wish to explore a potential vocation in the Church. For young a man that is primarily a vocation to holy orders while for young women it would mean a vocation of teaching theology or some other discipline necessary to the life of the Church. With the help of Fr. William Martin of St. Michael & All Angels in Arden, NC who is a former classmate of Fr. George Westhaver, the Principle of Pusey House, Oxford, as well as some of our parishioners and especially Wheeler and Emily Gum who are providing lodging and loco parentis, Perrin will spend slightly over two weeks in Oxford reading theology with Fr. George and participating in the very active scholarly & liturgical life of Pusey House. If anyone would like to contribute to the All Saints Young Scholar Award please speak our treasurer Bob Trent or you speak to me as well. Please keep Perrin in your prayers.
+ Sean McDermott is well into the process of studying for holy orders under the direction of the Board of Examining Chaplains of DEUS. He has entered the Master of Arts in Theology distant learning program at Trinity School for Ministry and he, Julie and the kids left after the 9:00 A.M. mass yesterday and drove up to Pennsylvania to Trinity’s campus where Sean will participate in an intensive week of study in the Anglican Method of Theology. Please keep Sean, Julie, Phinehas and Simeon in your prayers.
+ Daily Mass is celebrated Monday through Saturday at 12:15 p.m. You and your family members are all remembered by name at the Altar of God every week. Please take an All Saints parish prayer list home with you & remember your fellow parishioners in your prayers!
+ All Saints Men’s Group which meets Tuesdays at 7:00 a.m. in the undercroft will meet next Tuesday, June 3.
+ Our Monday morning Bible study will meet June 9, 2014 in the Undercroft. For further information about the Monday morning Bible Study please contact Priscilla King, 540-456-6458 – kingplk@gmail.com.
+ 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.