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March 2010

Contents:

·         From the Vicar

·         Stations of the Cross

·       The Beauty of Benediction

·         Special Appeal

Dear Friends in Christ:

It seems that most people nowadays just don't like rules. We feel that they are constricting and restricting. We spend a great deal of time trying to get around them. We sometimes feel that they should apply to other people, but not to ourselves - traffic rules immediately springs to mind! But rules can be good for us. They can set parameters in our lives. They can create order out of chaos. And they can help us grow spiritually.

We are now in the season of Lent - a time of reflection - of extra services in the church, a time of repentance and remembrance of our own shortcomings, a time of resolutions to do better and a time for rules. The practice of making a Lenten Rule is one which traces its origins to the earliest days of the church. If you attend mass here at St. Timothy's, you can find a copy of our pamphlet "Making Your Lenten Rule" in the narthex. If you live at a distance, we will be happy to send you a copy. These rules are collected in the alms basins and placed on the altar behind the tabernacle where they remain throughout the 40 days of Lent.

 What comprises a Lenten Rule? There are three areas we should look at during this Holy Season: prayer, fasting and almsgiving. For example, many parishioners resolve to attend all the extra services offered during Lent, or to pray extra devotions such as the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary. In fasting, some give up "treats" such as coffee, sodas, tobacco or alcohol for the season of Lent. In almsgiving, some give to the special funds at the church - the Discretionary Fund or the Camp Crucis Scholarship Fund. Many people give of their time for the pre-Easter workday to make our church beautiful for Easter. Others visit those who are hospitalized or shut-in and lonely, or write letters during this season.

 These rules are not constricting or restricting - instead, they are uplifting. They help us to focus our attention on what is really important in our lives and they serve as guideposts to the happiest of seasons, Easter. If you have not made a Lenten Rule for a while, this year is the time to resume. If you have never made one, this year is a time to start. When you do, you will be glad you did.

 
Faithfully, Your friend and Vicar,

The Very Rev'd Christopher C. Stainbrook, SSC 

 Stations of the Cross

A devotional practice involving tracing Jesus' journey from the trial before Pilate to Calvary, first observed in all likelihood in the city of Jerusalem itself by processing from place to place, stopping at each point for reflection, silence and prayer. The devotion spread in the Middle Ages (largely through the Franciscans) to other churches where a series of fourteen images or small plain crosses marked the walls of the inside of the church. People would walk from station to station for prayer and reflection centered on the person(s) or place imaged in the station. Indulgences are attached to observing this devotion. The selection of the fourteen stations was likely not finally settled until the eighteenth century. The Stations observed are: Jesus is condemned, Jesus carries His cross, Jesus falls the first time, Jesus meets His Mother, Simon of Cyrene helps carry the cross, Veronica wipes Jesus' face, Jesus falls a second time, Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, Jesus falls the third time, Jesus is stripped of His garments, Jesus is nailed to the cross, Jesus dies on the cross. His body is taken down from the cross and His body is laid in the tomb.

The following is the meditation of an anonymous writer on the Benediction service: "Yes, great moments of grace are the short moments of Benediction. The place itself is holy; we are in the presence of God; we kneel at His sacred feet. The Angels of Heaven surround the beautifully decorated and illuminated altar, as on the holy night they hovered about the manger in the stable of Bethlehem, chanting the joyful tidings of man's redemption and salvation. The hour, the flowers, the lighted candles, the scent of incense, the sweet, mellow tones of the organ, the sacramental hymns—all attune the heart and excite the mind to pious acts, serious reflections, consoling thoughts and holy aspirations. Earth vanishes in these blessed moments; we feel as if transported to Heaven, uniting our prayers with the supplications of the Saints and our praises with the music of angelic choirs. Here is found a balm for every wound, a solace in every sorrow. Here the high and the low, the learned and the ignorant, the sick and the weary, the anxious and the unhappy, can find sympathy with Jesus, who opens His heart and His hand, and cries out to us from His throne of grace: 'Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you.' (Matt. 11:28).

   "Great and manifold are the graces that come to us from the hands of our Blessed Saviour at Benediction. The light and warmth of divine grace flow upon us to illumine the dark spots of our soul, to strengthen us in our weakness, to enlighten us in our doubts, to enliven us in our faith, to fil1 us with consolation in our misfortunes, to drive away the evil spirits that tempt us and to inspire our Guardian Angels with the best means for our guidance and protection. At Benediction a peace covers us that is not of earth, a calm resignation that comes from intimate union with God, who alone is immutable and without whom all is vanity and affliction of spirit. We leave the church strong and willing to fight the battle of life; we leave with an abiding faith and confidence in God; and as the scent of incense lingers about the sanctuary after Benediction, so do the graces of this devotion accompany and sweeten our actions long after we have left the house of God to mingle with the busy throng; and to engage in the distracting scenes of life.

   "Oh, let us ponder these things and resolve to take advantage of every opportunity of being blessed by God! For if the blessings of holy people are so fruitful of good, how much more so will be that of Him who is the source of all good—the all-holy and all-powerful God?

   "Surely we shall be amply repaid for our efforts when we knee before the Master's throne and know that besides gaining incalculable good for ourselves, we are giving pleasure to Him whose delights were to be with the children of men.’ “ (Prov. 8:31).