Sunday is our last Sunday before Lent, and we are going to celebrate with pancakes! Lent was traditionally a time to give up rich foods, and so right before the start of Lent people would make cakes to use up their sugar, butter, eggs and flour before the penitential season. While your Lent may or may not include giving up food items, it is still fun to have one last celebration before we exit the season of revelations and enter the season on contemplation. Thanks to Kim Smith, Diane Olsen and the whole Community Life team for arranging pancakes following both services this Sunday.
This Sunday is also our first movie event. We will be watching the movie Frozen at 11:30 a.m., followed by a discussion of its Christian themes. I hope you will join us in the Parish Hall. Depending on participation, we are hoping to offer a monthly movie discussion at St. Mary’s.
With the beginning of Lent comes Ash Wednesday. We will have two services on Ash Wednesday, one at 9 a.m. and the other at 7 p.m. Both will be in the church and will include imposition of ashes. Should you want to attend in the parking lot, please let the usher know you are present and we will bring the ashes and communion out to you.
Our Lent Quiet Day is coming up fast. Join us Saturday, March 5 at 9 a.m. in the Parish Hall. We will have time for prayer and contemplation as we enter into the season of Lent. Lent and Advent are our two preparatory seasons, times when we look within to find God and answer his call in our lives. Join us on our search through prayer, icons and meditation.
On Wednesdays in Lent we will have prayer, soup supper and a class on Anglican Prayer beads. Please sign up if you intend to join the class or if you would like to bring soup and/or bread one week.
Since the earliest of times, people have used pebbles or a string of knots or beads on a cord to keep track of prayers offered to God. Virtually every major religious tradition in the world uses some form of prayer beads. You can create your own set of prayer beads and we will discuss the varieties of prayers that go with them.
Finally, this Sunday I will be chanting the Eucharistic Prayer using the Mozarabic setting. This setting was first documented by St. Isidor of Seville in the 7th century. While it was at times required and banned in Spain, I hope you will feel the history and prayer of these tones.
Prayers and Blessings,
Mother Pippa