November 2012
St. Mark’s News Volume 15/Issue 10
From the Curate “For all the saints, who from their labors rest . . . .” The Episcopal Church, like our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, honor and remember those men and women who have been exemplary followers of Christ. During the course of the year, we remember them on their specific feast days, which are most often the day of their death. We remember their lives of piety, of faith, and service to God. In many instances they are those saints who are also martyrs – those who have given their lives out of the conviction of their faith in Christ. These are men and women whose names are familiar to us, some of whom have been honored as saints: St. Mark, St. Francis, St. Clare, Teresa of Avila, St. Bartholomew, and the Venerable Bede. There are other well-known men and In this Issue women of faith whose lives and ministries we observe in Holy From the Curate ..................................... 1 Women, Holy Men/Lesser Feasts and Fasts: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Vestry Highlights .................................... 2 Mother Teresa, Thomas Cranmer, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Parish Life .............................................. 3 These giants of our faith reflect a wide swath of faith’s potential Outreach ................................................ 5 to engage the world and to transform God’s people. Music Notes............................................ 7 Christian Formation ................................ 7 Yes, we remember them during the course of the year on their Parishioner Highlights ............................ 9 day of commemoration, but we also remember them on Caffeine Ministry..................................... 9 November 1, on All Saints’ Day. It is believed that the Birthdays & Anniversaries .................... 10 ROTA .................................................. 11 November 1 commemoration of all the saints began in Ireland, then spread to England and on to the continent of Europe. By the 9th century the festival was observed throughout the Holy Roman Empire. The desire to acknowledge the intercommunion of the living and the dead in the Body of Christ was expressed as early as the 3rd century by the observance of a festival of all martyrs. Beginning in the 10th century November 2 was set aside as a day for remembering All Faithful Departed, as an extension of All Saints – a day to remember those who might be unknown to the wider fellowship of the church; a day to remember family members and friends who are in the near presence of God.
On the feast of All Saints we remember the lives of the saints. Our Roman Catholic and Orthodox brothers and sisters ask for their prayers and intercessions on our behalf: [The Communion of the Saints] is the belief that all of God’s people, in heaven, earth, and in the state of purification, are connected in a communion. In other words, Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that the saints of God are just as alive as you and I, and are constantly interceding on our behalf. http://www.churchyear.net/allsaints.html
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