Dear Friends in Christ, The popular Advent Hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” took shape in France in the 17th century and was translated into English and set to the hauntingly beautiful plainchant melody we know in the 19th century. But the text of the hymn dates from the 9th century and earlier and is…

Dear Friends in Christ, The Lord Jesus teaches us to expect opposition, rejection, and even hatred and persecution from “the world” simply because we are his disciples. But, by “the world”, the Christ does not mean the universe he created or this planet which is his handiwork; rather, by “the world”, the Messiah means that…

Dear Friends in Christ, Wednesday 7 December is the feast of Saint Ambrose of Milan, one of the most remarkable bishops of the early Church. Aurelius Ambrosius was born around the year 340 in the city of Trier, now in Germany but then in the Roman Province of Gaul. Ambrose’s father was the praetorian prefect…

Dear Friends in Christ, “It was December, and another Christmas was at our throats.” The English humorist P.G. Wodehouse thus described the unholy frenzy that too often accompanies the approach of December 25th, and it is a sentiment most of us can readily understand. To avoid succumbing to that feeling, we need to see what…

Dear Friends in Christ, The new Year of Grace will begin next week with the First Sunday of Advent, and on each of the four Sundays of Advent we will gather at     5 pm to sing the psalms and canticles of Vespers or Evening Prayer. Please join us at 5 pm on each…