Holy Week Services

Left Apsis: Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Fresco in the Parish Church of Zirl, Austria

HOLY WEEK marks the events of Christ’s life beginning with his joyous triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and ending with the somberness of crucifixion and death. It is a week in which we as the Church dramatize the events which led up to and include the suffering and death of Jesus on the Cross. The theme of Holy Week is one of passion, of ultimate love and caring.

THE SUNDAY OF PASSION - PALM SUNDAY, April 5 - 8 &10 a.m.
The tension between suffering and glorious triumph is set immediately before us on Palm Sunday, when joyful hosannas ring out even as the sense of foreboding grows. Jesus enters Jerusalem proclaimed as a king, riding toward a destiny of suffering and death amidst the shouts of those who soon will turn against him. We begin with "All glory, laud and honor,” the hymn traditionally associated with the procession, then move to a dramatic reading of The Passion Narrative.

TENEBRAE, WEDNESDAY, April 8 - 7:30 p.m
Tenebrae comes from the Latin word for "darkness" or "shadows" and has for centuries been applied to the service of evening prayer observed during the last three days of Holy Week. The most conspicuous feature of the service is the gradual extinguishing of candles and other lights in the church, until only a single candle, considered as a symbol of our Lord, remains lit. Before each candle is extinguished there are readings from the Psalms and Biblical lessons. The service concludes with prayers and silence.

MAUNDY THURSDAY, April 9 - 7:30 p.m.
We get the word Maundy from the Latin "mandate" to command. This service recalls two events in the life of Jesus. First, we recall the Last Supper when Jesus broke bread with the disciples in the Upper Room and said, "Do this for the remembrance of me." In the Eucharist we have the promise of Christ’s presence with us. Secondly, we recall that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and commanded them to follow his example of love and humble service. In the foot washing we have the model of ministry of servanthood. At the conclusion of this memorable service we have the stripping of the altar.

GOOD FRIDAY, April 10
THE WAY OF THE CROSS - 12:00 noon
The devotion known as the Way of the Cross is an adaptation to local usage of a custom widely observed by the pilgrims to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, the pilgrims offer a prayer at a series of places traditionally associated with our Lord’s passion and death. At Saint Mary’s, the children of the parish will assist us in this service which includes walking throughout the parish grounds, observing moments of Biblical reflection and contemplative prayer. The service begins and ends in the church.

GOOD FRIDAY LITURGY, April 10 - 7:30 p.m.
A solemn service beginning with a reading from the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John and followed by a service of evening prayer using the Solemn Collects which date from the third century. In these prayers is a bidding to the congregation for silent prayer concluding with a collect. The service ends with Anthems said before the Cross and the Lord’s Prayer.

Good News: March 25, 2009

The Good News of March 25, 2009, is now available for download:

Good_News_2009_March_25.pdf

This issue includes the article "How to Keep a Good Lent", adapted from a sermon by The Reverend Peter J. Gomes, and "That Which Can Kill Us Can Also Be Our Salvation", adapted from Peter Chase’s March 22 sermon.

This is part of the Lenten season when giving up means taking on and when letting go means truly receiving; when we focus on the centrality of God and lift high the cross which bothers us. Lent brings renewal, growth, and opportunity. I pray we keep this in the center of our thoughts. —Peter Chase

Update for Sunday, March 29

A crow landed on our cross and sat there for about 5 minutes today...

Sunday, March 29
NO 8am Service
9:00am Sunday School for grades 4-5
and Middle School
9:45am Childcare
10:00am Holy Eucharist - Bishop Bud Cederholm, Preacher
K-3 Attend Church first;
(leave at 2nd hymn w/ teachers)
11:00am Reception
12:30pm Vestry Meeting w/Bishop Cedarholm
3:00pm Diocesan Meeting - Chapter Rm
5:00pm Soup & Cinema
Movie: Wall-E
Monday, March 30
8:00pm AA (6:30 newcomers)
Tuesday, March 31
9:30am Holy Eucharist
10:00am Lenten Study on Improving Interfaith understanding and relationships. Speaker: The Rev. Dr. Frederick Moser Rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Wayland.
Thursday, April 2
6:30pm Junior Choir
7:30pm Adult Choir

Reminder: Wellesley Interfaith Food Drive Donations Due March 29

We have a collection box in the Narthex. Please bring Juice...Apple, Cranberry, cans and plastic containers (NO Glass Bottles)... also juice boxes. The food pantry cannot accept any products that have expired.

Soup and Cinema on March 29: WALL*E

This year's final Soup & Cinema is for the entire family - please join us Sunday March 29th in the Parish Hall, starting at 5:00 p.m. for soup, followed by the film at 6:00 p.m. Disney and Pixar join together for WALL-E, a computer-animated story about a robot who is searching for a newfound friend. This film is great for the entire family. Soup is a choice of Chicken Noodle or Tomato.

"Old" Saint Mary's Pictures

[I found these while doing a computer back-up. The first was labeled "St. Mary's Postcard 1905". - Editor]

Minutes, January 2009 Vestry Meeting

Minutes from the January 2009 Vestry meeting, as approved at our December Vestry meeting, are available for download:

Vestry_Minutes_2009_Jan_20.pdf

Also available for download is the budget summary from the January Vestry meeting, showing actual vs. projected spending year to date:

St_Marys_Financials_2009_Jan_31.pdf

Reminder: Bishop's Visitation on March 29

Bishop Bud Cederholm will be visiting St. Mary's on Sunday, March 29th.

Bishop Cederholm will be celebrating the 10AM service (there will be no 8AM service) and staying afterwards for an extended coffee hour and reception. He will also meet with the Vestry following the reception.

Peter's Retirement

As many of you may know by now, Peter Chase, our rector for the last seventeen years, plans to retire this June.

Peter has let many of us know for some time that this day was indeed coming, and although it is happening sooner than expected, it comes as no surprise. Peter has been the rock of our parish for many years, and is the reason many of us joined St. Mary’s. He, Abbie, Gaelan and Ben will be missed, and all will be remembered fondly.


A letter from Peter, and a separate letter from the Vestry, were mailed to parish members this past week. Copies of these two letters can be viewed here:

Peter_to_Parish_2009_Mar_17.pdf
Vestry_to_Church_2009_March_18.pdf

We plan to keep the parish informed of plans for Peter's retirement, as well as the transition to a new rector, through this website as well as announcements in church, by email, and the Good News.

St. Mary's Email List

St. Mary's uses email to keep people informed of news, events, and other items of interest to our community. You need to register with our Google Group to receive these emails - you can do this by entering your email address here.

Subscribe to Saint Mary's Episcopal Church, Newton Massachusetts

Email:

Visit this group

We selected Google Groups for our email service because it lets us keep peoples' individual email addresses private, lets us block unsolicited messages, and gives each individual the ability to manage how they receive email updates.

This update only affects emails sent to the entire parish. All other communications, including U.S. Postal mailings, will stay the same.

Easter Lilies

Easter Sunday is on April 12, 2009. If you would like to purchase an Easter lily in a loved one's memory, or in thanksgiving, please download and complete the form below along with a check for $15.00 (make payable to Saint Mary's Altar Guild) to Saint Mary's Church, 258 Concord Street, Newton Lower Falls 02462 by April 6. Thank you for your continued support of the Altar Guild.

Easter_Lilies_Request_2009

Update for Sunday, March 22

Sunday, March 22
8:00am Holy Eucharist - The Reverend Peter Chase
9:00am Sunday School for grades 4-5
and Middle School
9:45am Childcare
10:00am Holy Eucharist - The Reverend Peter Chase
10:00am K-3 Attend Church first;
(leave at 2nd hymn w/ teachers)
11:00am Adult Forum led by Peter Chase
5:00pm CANCELLED - Soup & Cinema
Monday, March 23
8:00pm AA (6:30 newcomers)
Tuesday, March 24
9:30am Holy Eucharist
10:00am Lenten Study - Speaker:The Reverend Timothy Crellins
7:00pm Rehearsal - Newton Country Players (Parish Hall)
7:30pm Special Vestry Meeting
Thursday, March 26
6:30pm Junior Choir
7:30pm Adult Choir
Saturday, March 28
10:00am Memorial Service for Bruce Mossman followed reception in the Parish Hall

UPDATE: Soup and Cinema on March 22 is CANCELLED

UPDATE MARCH 17: SOUP AND CINEMA IS CANCELLED FOR MARCH 22. PLEASE JOIN US ON MARCH 29 FOR WALL*E.

Update from El Salvador

Presidential elections were held yesterday in El Salvador. Although votes are still being counted, as of this morning the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) party - formed by former guerilla fighters from the country's 12 year civil war - appears to be ahead in the voting. The election results will have an impact on the lives of ordinary Salvadorians including those in the Episcopal Church and our sister parish Santa Maria Virgen.

The Washington Post has an article in today's paper here.

Also, Cristosal - the US Episcopal Church's foundation for El Salvador - keeps a page with news updates here.

If you have a further interest in learning more about issues of poverty and human rights in El Salvador, Cristosal has pointed us to a new website titled El Salvador Update.

Update from Kenya

One of the recipients of St. Mary's Outreach Fund is the Maseno Mission in Kenya. Dianne Smith, a friend of several St. Mary's members, is a nurse and missionary from the Diocese of Massachusetts there. She sends this update:

Just a quick update because I can't remember if I sent you any of the "Sister Mzungu" ("Nurse White Woman") photos that Nan Hardison recently had snapped. It's been a challenging time in Kenya. Students in Nairobi are getting restless about police brutality and demonstrating. Farmers in the Rift Valley are getting restless and demonstrating, too. They have been ordered by the government to "plant or face (unknown) punishment." People are hungry here, but our neighbors are unable to plant even their family shambas/kitchen gardens because the costs of seeds and fertilizer have quadrupled with inflation in the past year. We already keep people extra days in the hospital (at discounted "boarding" rates) just to give them some extra nutrition. I'm sure we'll end up with more emaciated patients as time goes on.

I'm currently making rounds in a wheelchair since I messed up my knee trying to keep pace with a young, long-legged Kenyan friend who took me up and over the mountain to meet his baby daughter a couple of weeks ago. (It was worth it -- Read the "I'm in Love!" entry in my blog.) It hasn't slowed me down much, but I suspect it's an aggravation to the folks having to push me over the uneven dirt and gravel between the hospital wards. I've also been working with four local nurses to establish two community pharmacies, a sort of micro-enterprise to benefit them, their orphan programs, and ideally the wider region. We hope it will be helpful to get good (vs. counterfeit) drugs to the people at reasonable prices. I've also been working on a CD project with the choir at St. Philip's, in an effort to do some fundraising for Nan Hardison's theological college students. They are the hope for the church's -- and their communities' -- future here. And we're starting up a "Blankets for (Maseno) Orphans" program in the diocese (of Massachusetts)... Never a dull moment!

Best to your family and the folks at St. Mary's... Thank you all for your ongoing prayers.

Dianne
dianne.smith.rn@gmail.com
http://heart-to-god.blogspot.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/dianne.smith.rn

Reminder: Special Music Sunday on March 15

UPDATED March 2, 2009: On Sunday, March 15 at the 10 a.m. service the St. Mary’s Adult Choir, soloists and orchestra will mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn by presenting his Missa Sancti Nicolai in G (St. Nicholas Mass).

Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer who spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Hungarian Esterházy family. He is well-known for his instrumental music, particularly the symphonies and string quartets which were new forms of composition in the Classical Period. His church music includes fourteen settings of the Latin Mass, ranging from his first small-scale masses (Missa breves) of 1749/50 to later large-scale festive mass compositions (Missa solemnis) written in the 1790s.

Haydn composed the Missa Sancti Nicolai in 1772, probably for the name day of prince Nicolaus Esterházy. It is one of Haydn’s last Missa breves, although it has a somewhat larger scale than the earlier masses. In addition to the strings, the orchestra includes 2 oboes. Also, the movements are longer than in earlier Mass settings, and there are more solo sections that alternate with the full choir.

The Missa Sancti Nicolai begins and ends with a pastoral theme that characterizes the work. In the opening movement the soloists begin the Kyrie eleison (Lord, have mercy) with a gentle melody in 6/8 time. Haydn reprises this music in the Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace) that ends the work, giving the piece an overall feeling of sure confidence and hope. According to Georg August Griesinger, Haydn’s early biographer who had often conversed with him, the master’s “devotion was not of the somber, ever penitential kind, but was happy and trusting, and his church music is also of this character.”

As you continue on your Lenten journey, please join us at St. Mary’s on Sunday, March 15 for a service of musical and spiritual refreshment.

St. Mary's Update for Sunday, March 15

Calendar for the Upcoming Week
Sunday, March 15
8:00am Holy Eucharist I
9:00am Sunday School for grades 4- 5
and middle school
9:45am Childcare
10:00am Holy Eucharist I & Special Music - Peter Chase
10:00am K - 3 Attend church first;
leave at 2nd hymn w/ teachers
11:00am Coffee Hour
5:00pm Soup and Cinema
Movie: The Pursuit of Happyness
Monday, March 16
8:00pm AA (6:30 newcomers)
Tuesday, March 17
9:30am Holy Eucharist
10:00am Lenten Study
7:30pm Vestry Meeting
Thursday,March 19
6:30pm Junior Choir
7:30pm Adult Choir

Soup and Cinema on March 15: Pursuit of Happyness

This year's Soup & Cinema series be held each Sunday in March in the Parish Hall, starting at 5:00 p.m. followed by the film, which will be shown at 6:00 p.m.

March 15 - Pursuit of Happyness - Soup: Minestrone
The true story about a man named Christopher Gardner who loses everything and ends up homeless with his son living on the streets of San Francisco as he tries to regroup his life. This inspiring story is played by Will Smith and his son.

Photos: All Parish Dinner, March 6 (2 of 2)

Video: All Parish Dinner, March 6

Photos: All Parish Dinner, March 6 (1 of 2)

Good News: March 4, 2009

The Good News of March 4, 2009, is now available for download:

Good_News_2009_March_04.pdf

This issue includes the article "Daily Reflections and Prayers for Lent"...

I love Ash Wednesday. I wouldn't miss it for the world. It is a day on which I can wear the dark side of myself on my face. It is like a badge. Ashes on one's forehead are a blessing on one's curses. For one day of the year the melancholy spirit is sure that defeat comes tomorrow is allowed. It is permitted to cling to death. The breezy optimism and chunky warmth and good cheer to which propriety always calls is left behind for as long as the black smudge holds out between one's eyes.
- James Carroll

Calendar for the Upcoming Week - March 8

This Sunday is Daylight Saving Time - turn clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night.
Sunday, March 8
Please bring cranberry or apple juice to Support the Wellesley Interfaith Food Drive (no bottles please). Box in narthex.
8:00am Holy Eucharist I - Peter Chase
9:00am Sunday School for grades 4- 5 and middle school
9:45am Childcare
10:00am Holy Eucharist I - Peter Chase
10:00am K - 3 Attend church first; leave at 2nd hymn w/ teachers
11:00am Coffee Hour
5:00pm Soup and Cinema
Soup: Corn Chowder Movie: The Visitor
Monday, March 9
8:00pm AA (6:30 newcomers)
Tuesday, March 10
10:00am Lenten Study - The Reverend Timothy Crellin of St. Stephen's talks about B-Safe Program for at-risk inner city youth.
11:00am WSM Board Meeting
7:00pm Stitch’n Chat at Kitty Smith's
Thursday, March 12
6:30pm Junior Choir
7:30pm Adult Choir
Saturday, March 14
9:30am Special Music Rehearsal

St. Mary's All Parish Dinner - Friday, March 6

You are Invited to
St. Mary’s All Parish Dinner
Friday, March 6th at 6:30pm
Social Hour
Potluck Supper
Children’s Supper
Program for Children
Musical Program for all Ages
(Snow Date - March 7th)
This special evening has something for everyone--don't miss it!

Soup and Cinema on March 8th: The Visitor

This year's Soup & Cinema series be held each Sunday in March in the Parish Hall, starting at 5:00 p.m. followed by the film, which will be shown at 6:00 p.m.

March 8th - The Visitor - Soup: Corn Chowder
The Visitor was nominated for an Academy Award for Richard Jenkins as best actor in his role as Walter, a widowed professor needing a change in life. While in New York City he discovers a Syrian and Senegalese couple occupying his wife’s apartment. He becomes involved in their lives and learns from their experience a renewal of interest in life. When one becomes detained as an illegal immigrant, Walter hits his head against a closed system, but finds liberation in world music.

Outreach: Children Without Borders

One recent recipient of St. Mary's Outreach funds is Children Without Borders.

Children Without Borders is a non-profit organization that provides life saving medical care to children and preventative health education for families in underserved countries. They accomplish this by working with local and international partners to build health services. By providing access to medical care, children achieve optimal health in their own communities. They build hope for the future by sharing knowledge across cultures, establishing and operating sustainable clinics, conducting research and training, and arranging volunteer opportunities.

St. Mary's member Elisabeth Comer is outreach coordinator for Children without Borders, and would be happy to provide more information.

What does Children Without Borders do?

Children Without Borders is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization that provides life saving medical care to children and health education for families in underserved countries. We accomplish this by working with local and international partners to build health services that all knowledge to be shared across cultures, establish and operate sustainable clinics, conduct research and training, and arranging volunteer opportunities.

Who are the people running Children Without Borders?

Our team is lead by a Board of Directors including two experienced physicians. Dr. George Whitelaw, Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine, has spent much of the last 30 years providing medical care to the underserved communities in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Carlos Fernando Bazoberry, originally from Bolivia, is an anesthesiologist who founded and is now vice president of Boston Pain Care Center in Waltham, Massachusetts. Dr. Bazoberry trained at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and has spent many years providing care to the underserved in South America.

Henry"Chip" Strapp is a U.S. Vietnam veteran who went on to hold several executive positions in the footwear industry. Currently, he runs Pentagon Sports and serves as president of C&S Associates Consulting.

The Board is supported by the Executive and Advisory Committees, all volunteers with diverse leadership experiences.

Where does Children Without Borders Operate?

Our first clinic and Central American Headquarters are in Costa Rica with a population of 4.5 million people, including an underserved refugee population. We started in Costa Rica because of its need for safe living medical care, cooperative government agencies, local partnerships and support, a complementary health care system and a strategic location for practical expansion into other nearby countries.

How is Children Without Borders funded?

Children Without Borders is funded by private donations and matched gifts. Some organizations have graciously provided medical services, supplies and referrals. We are moving forward with plans to receive financial support through student intern programs, corporate donations, grants and other sources.

How are donations and other contributions used?

Almost ninety percent of all donated funds go directly to health care for children and the operations of our clinic and Central American Headquarters. Most of the administrative work is done by volunteers like St. Mary's member Elisabeth Comer, who serves on the Exec Committee.