We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, who are still here, and we honor with gratitude the land itself and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do. We welcome all people to our church.
Love is a crucial part of the Advent story. Because of Joseph’s love for Mary, he didn’t stone her when he found out she was pregnant with what he thought was a child out of wedlock with another man (Matthew 1:18-19). Mary has a natural motherly love for Jesus, and ultimately, we see God’s love for everyone by sending his son for us (John 3:16).
Jesus focused on preaching love throughout his ministry. Two of his greatest commands involve love: Love God, love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).
Love is the greatest of all the virtues on the Advent wreath and encompasses Jesus’ entire purpose for being on earth (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Selected Content from Advent 1, Advent Begins. Check it out and let us know your thoughts!
Nov. 28 – 11:00am, Eucharist In person in the church or on Zoom. – Join here at 10:45am for gathering – service starts at 11am Meeting ID: 869 9926 3545 Passcode: 889278
Nov. 28 – 7:00pm, Compline on Zoom – Join here at 6:30pm for gathering – service starts at 7pm Meeting ID: 878 7167 9302 Passcode: 729195
Nov. 29 – 6:30am – Be Still Meditation group in a 20 minute time of prayer Meeting ID: 879 8071 6417 Passcode: 790929
Bible Study on Wednesday 10am-12pm!
Dec. 5 – 11:00am, Advent 2
Dec. 5 – 7:00pm, Compline on Zoom – Join here at 6:30am for gathering – service starts at 7pm Meeting ID 834 7356 6532 Password 748475
Support the Village Harvest food ministry on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021
You can pledge online or through the mail (St. Peter’s Church,P. O. Box 399, Port Royal, Virginia 22535).
It all comes back to us!
The Wonderful Season of Advent!
The name “Advent” actually comes from the Latin word adventus which means “coming.” It is a reminder of how the Jewish nation waited for the Messiah and how Christians are now waiting for the return of Christ.
Advent which begins this Sunday Nov. 29 is like a breath of fresh air -a new church year, a new set of Gospel readings from Mark, and the anticipation of the birth of Christ.
The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. It blends together a penitential spirit, very similar to Lent, a liturgical theme of preparation for the Second and Final Coming of the Lord, called the Parousia, and a joyful theme of getting ready for the Bethlehem event.
The Advent wreath, four candles on a wreath of evergreen, is shaped in a perfect circle to symbolize the eternity of God. The Advent Wreath is beautiful and evocative reminder of the life-giving qualities of light. The evergreens used in the wreath are reminders of ongoing life, even in the face of death.
There are 4 candles, one for each week in Advent, are used with one larger white candle in the middle as the Christ candle. During each Sunday of the Advent season, we focus on one of the four virtues Jesus brings us: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace. Three of the candles are purple. This is the color of penitence and fasting as well as he color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King.
The Third candle is pink, a color of joy, the joy that Jesus is almost here and fasting is almost order. Gaudete Sunday (from the Latin meaning “rejoice”) which is taken from Philippians 4:4-5, the Entrance Antiphon of the day.
Advent begins in a season of darkness but using the Advent wreath we see light winning over darkness. Lighting candles is a way we can keep time in Church And as the season passes, and another candle is lit each week, light finally wins out over darkness with the turn of the solstice in the stars and the birth of Christ on the ground.
At the center of the wreath is a white candle, which is called the Christ Candle. This candle is lit on Christmas Eve as a reminder that Jesus, the light of the world, has been born and has come to dwell with us.
It is a season of waiting, of rest but also a time to find new beginnings. Since the 900s Advent has been considered the beginning of the Church year. It is antidote for our society’s frantic behavior during the holiday season. There is so much in the world that tells you, you are not enough or you haven’t do enough before Christmas but you have to find out during Advent that you are enough.
The first week of Advent is all about hope. Lamentations 3: 21-24: “Yet this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; “therefore I will wait for him.” (NIV).
The altar changes during Advent to represent the new season, particularly in the use of color. Today, many churches have begun to use blue instead of purple, as a means of distinguishing Advent from Lent. Blue also signifies the color of the night sky or the waters of the new creation in Genesis 1. Blue emphasizes the season is also about hope and anticipation of the coming of Christ. Christ is about transformation as the sky changes from dark to light filling our lives with grace.
Three Teaching Points for Advent
by Sarah Bentley Allred
“Christmas is a big mystery. We do not understand how exactly God comes to be among us in human form. Taking time to prepare to celebrate Christmas allows us to enter more fully into the mystery. As we say in Godly Play, if we don’t take time to get ready for Christmas, we could “walk right by this mystery” without ever really experiencing it. And so, we spend the four weeks before Christmas anticipating and preparing for the coming of Christ.
“Advent has a double spiritual meaning. While we are anticipating the arrival of the birth of Jesus, we are also anticipating the arrival of the second coming, when Jesus will return for the Final Judgement.
1. Anticipation
“Advent is a season of preparation, expectant waiting. We are preparing to remember and to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is a time to practice waiting, a universal experience for people of all ages. During this time, we remember the prophets that foretold Jesus’ birth (see Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Jeremiah 23:5-6) and the nine-month journey of Mary and Joseph before the birth of Jesus (see Luke 1-2, Matthew 1).
“People prepare to enter the mystery of Christmas in different ways. You might invite members of the congregation to explore how Christians intentionally anticipate Christmas through song, prayer, scripture, liturgy, service, Advent wreaths, or Advent calendars.
2. Incarnation
“During Advent, the core of what we are waiting for, anticipating, is the Incarnation, God becoming human. As Christians, we believe that God loves us, and all of creation, so much that God became embodied in the form of Jesus. The Incarnation is an incredible mystery—we do not know exactly how God became human. God’s action in taking on flesh sanctifies our flesh – it makes holy the skin we wear. Advent provides an opportunity to explore what the Incarnation means for our lives.
“What does God living in a body mean for our relationship to the human body, our body as well as the other bodies in this world? What does God’s choice to inhabit the body of a baby mean?
3. Immanuel (or Emmanuel)
“Each Advent every church I know sings, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (Hymnal 1982, #56). Immanuel is one of the names for Jesus found in scripture (Isaiah 7:14), it means “God with us.” The season of Advent anticipates God’s time on earth in the person of Jesus. During this time God was with us in a special way. God’s presence with us in human form means that God knows what it is like to be human.”
St. Peter’s Advent calendar
Click calendar image to access the calendar. Then click the specific day which will open a window which you can then dismiss with the “X” in the top right. There is a message and scripture for each day plus a link to the lectionary for the day.
A Family Advent
1. Make Your Own Advent Playdough Wreath at Home!
2. Family Prayer for the lighting of the candle
Each week remember one of the virtues Jesus brings us – Hope, Love, Joy and Peace as you light the candle.
3. Antiphons for an Advent Calendar
An antiphon (“voice”) is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung like a refrain in a song. Antiphons were written with pieces of the Psalms and other verses from the Hebrew Scriptures. They also express deep theological convictions!
The singing of Antiphons (as sung by in early Christian communities by the end of the 5th century) had its root in the Synagogue. Early Christians borrowed the Jewish traditions of chanting psalms and of singing hymns together.
We have an Advent Calendar with one antiphon for each day
Advent in 2 minutes Check out this Youtube video
Advent in 1 minute– A 2015 video from St. Mary’s Cypress
Advent is about waiting – Advent waiting is expectant. Advent waiting requires making space. Advent waiting is hopeful.
Explore Advent, Part 1– Over the next 4 Sundays there will be a presentation each week focusing on that week’s scriptures, art and commentary and how they demonstrate the themes of advent. Let’s get started with Advent 1.
Advent is the time when we change to a different year in the Lectionary. This year we move from Year B to Year C and from a concentration on the Gospel of Mark to Luke.
Here is an introduction to the Gospel of Luke. Here is a shorter one “Living the Good News” There are several articles which are a general introduction to Luke on the web: 1. Shortest from christianity.about.com 2. Longer from the Catholic Bishops 3. Longest from a Catholic portal. Each of the readings is covered separately
Interested in the Church calendar ? Matthew’s interest about time in First Advent lends itself to understand how we measure time.
Collected Advent resources
1. Advent resources from St. Mary’s Goochland
2. Advent resources from the Episcopal Church Foundation.
4. From the Diocese of California
5. From the Diocese of New Hampshire
7. Create your own Advent Calendar
The Season of Advent is alive with colors, candles, wreaths and song. David Bratcher has written a wonderful article on Advent traditions.
There are several articles/presentations about the infancy narratives 1. Brief summary between Matthew and Luke 2. Longer comparison
Advent is a time of music Here is a link to National Cathedral’s Advent Lessons and Carols on Dec. 1, 2019 This year’s service will be held on Nov. 28 at 4pm
Explore Advent, Part 2
“Advent is a time to look for “desert places”: the place of solitude, the place of true silence in which we can become fully awake to our sin and God’s forgiving grace which alone can heal it.”-Br. Robert L’Esperance
This week we focus on John the Baptist through scripture, art and commentary. Let’s move to Advent 2.
John the Baptist presentation.
St Nicholas Day is December 6.
Here is a presentation that provides the background of this saint who has had a colorful and varied history over 1800 years.
Arts and Faith- Advent 2, relating art and scripture
Mattia Preti’s St. John the Baptist Preaching shows John in the wilderness, sharing his message with a small crowd of captivated followers. He is surrounded by symbols that invite us into his story. The red garment that envelops half of his body brings to mind the martyrdom he will endure. The staff and banner are signs of his prophetic role heralding the coming of Christ, and the lamb at the bottom center of the scene echoes John’s announcement of Christ as the Lamb of God.
The broken tree stump that St. John leans on is also telling us a story. Its trunk is almost wide and solid enough to be an altar. This seen together with the red cloth and the lamb subtly evokes sacrifice: the story of Abraham and Isaac perhaps, but more clearly the cross itself, the ultimate tree of sacrifice. The trunk is dead and broken, its branches split and severed, but John’s body leaning on it gives it life. It is as if John’s torso and extended arm become the living extension of the tree, giving a seemingly exhausted trunk new life and purpose. In this, the image invites us to reflect on the power of the life-giving Word of God, which St. John is heralding.
Another interesting detail is the angel in the top right of the scene, directly engaging the viewer with his gaze. The angel’s direct gaze makes him the storyteller. This is by no accident, as in Scripture, angels are messengers of God. Luke’s Gospel for the Second Sunday of Advent tells us that the Word of God came to John in the desert, and Preti gives us an angel, a herald of the Word of God, to show this and the divine source animating St. John’s work. But as the angel looks at us square on, his presence is also a call to the viewer to both accept the Word and to share it. This Second Sunday of Advent, we do not simply hear about the prophet John; in hearing the Word ourselves, we are called to live prophetically and to prepare the way all around us.
Make a Gift Today! 2. Contact the Rev Catherine Hicks, Rector 4. Server Schedule Dec., 2021 5. Latest Newsletter-the Parish Post (Dec., 2021) 6. Calendar 9. Latest Sunday Bulletin (Nov. 28 2021 11:00am), and Sermon (Nov. 28, 2021) 10. Recent Services: Readings and Prayers, All Saints, Nov. 7, Readings and Prayers, Nov. 14, |
Projects
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
Knowing that not everyone prays at the same pace, you have control over the pace of the retreat. After each screen, a Continue button will appear. Click it when you are ready to move on. If you are new to online prayer, the basic timing of the screens will guide you through the experience.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Your daily prayer online, since 1999
“We invite you to make a ‘Sacred Space’ in your day, praying here and now, as you visit our website, with the help of scripture chosen every day and on-screen guidance.”
Saints of the Week, Nov. 28 – Dec. 5, 2021
|
28
|
Kamehameha and Emma, King and Queen of Hawaii, 1864, 1885 |
|
29
|
|
|
30
|
Saint Andrew the Apostle |
2
|
Channing Moore Williams, Bishop & Missionary, 1910 |
|
3
|
[Francis Xavier], Missionary to the Far East, 1552 |
|
4
|
John of Damascus, Priest & Theologian, c. 760 |
|
5
|
Clement of Alexandria, Priest & Theologian, c. 210 |