MASS SCHEDULE – WEEK ADVENT/CHRISTMAS (December 22, 2013)
23, Feria
24, Christmas Eve
25, Christmas Day
26, St. Stephen’s Day
27, St. John’s Day
+ The Christmas Eve service at 5:30 p.m. will be preceded at 5:00 p.m. with Christmas carols and hymns. The procession for this service is long because we include the children and the building of the crèche. We will have a more than full choir for this service.
+ The Christmas Day service at 10:30 a.m. has become a tradition for some of our families; it is quieter and shorter than the Christmas Eve service. We will have hymns but no choir.
+ Feast of St. Stephen – St. Stephen’s Day is a sober and timely reminder of the trials of the Christian life. Stephen is the first deacon to proclaim Christ, and also the first to be martyred for that testimony. He was one of the seven deacons appointed by the apostles in the early days of the Church, and is most likely of Hellenistic Jewish descent. Filled with the Holy Spirit and learned in the Scriptures and Jewish history, he gave an apology for the Faith in the midst of a crowd of Jews, contained in the 7th chapter of Acts of the Apostles. Moses and the prophets all pointed to the coming of Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of Israel and of mankind:
“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”
+ The Feast of St. John – Saint John was one of the twelve apostles and, according to tradition, the author of the fourth Gospel, the three epistles which bear his name. He is regarded as the “beloved disciple” in the Gospel accounts, and was a member of the “inner three” disciples, the other two being Peter and James. John is also the only one of the disciples who stood at the cross of Christ during the Crucifixion.
+ WEDNESDAY SCHOOL AND AGAPE OF 2014 will resume Wednesday, January 8 at 5:45 p.m. Classes begin at 6:30 and run till 7:15 p.m. We will have classes for all age groups and our schedule will be published next Sunday. Please call Jackie Jamison if you are interested in volunteering with the children’s classes since classroom assistants are needed!
+ All Saints Men’s Group next meeting is Tuesday December 31, 7:00 a.m. in the undercroft.
+ Our next Monday morning Bible study will meet January 6, 2014 in the Undercroft. For further information about the Monday morning Bible Study please contact Priscilla King, 540-456-6458 – kingplk@gmail.com.
+ Daily Mass is celebrated 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 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.