Register for 8:00am service HERE
Register for Noon service HERE
Register for 7:30pm service HERE
The 7:30pm service will also be available to view here when the livestream begins
Register for Noon service HERE
Register for 7:30pm service HERE
The 7:30pm service will also be available to view here when the livestream begins
RESOURCES FROM OUR ADULT SPIRITUAL FORMATION COMMISSION
Register for Quiet Day HERE
ASF has acquired a limited number of The Pilgrim Way of Lent: Meditations from Washington National Cathedral for distribution to parishioners. Copies will be available at Ash Wednesday services.
One copy per family please, and donations are welcome.
One copy per family please, and donations are welcome.
WATCH FOR DETAILS ON ADDITIONAL LENTEN OFFERINGS
FROM THE ADULT SPIRITUAL FORMATION COMMISSION:
Compline Sundays, March 13, 20, and 27, 7:00pm
The ancient office of Compline derives its name from a Latin word meaning ‘completion’ (completorium). It is above all a service of quietness and reflection before rest at the end of the day.
The last of the four services in the Daily Office (BCP, p. 127). It is descended from the night prayers said before bed at the end of the monastic round of daily prayer. Please join us for this intimate service. Zoom link is the same for all four services.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81113824258?pwd=VWhwckZYbExYdWdCU1BWVWFQdnB4Zz09
Meeting ID: 811 1382 4258
Passcode: 024802
FROM THE ADULT SPIRITUAL FORMATION COMMISSION:
Compline Sundays, March 13, 20, and 27, 7:00pm
The ancient office of Compline derives its name from a Latin word meaning ‘completion’ (completorium). It is above all a service of quietness and reflection before rest at the end of the day.
The last of the four services in the Daily Office (BCP, p. 127). It is descended from the night prayers said before bed at the end of the monastic round of daily prayer. Please join us for this intimate service. Zoom link is the same for all four services.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81113824258?pwd=VWhwckZYbExYdWdCU1BWVWFQdnB4Zz09
Meeting ID: 811 1382 4258
Passcode: 024802
About the Services of Holy Week and Easter Sunday
This holiest week of the Christian year reaches from our glad “hosannas” of Palm Sunday, through the encroaching darkness of Tenebrae, the foot washing on Maundy Thursday, our own witness to Jesus’s passion and death on Good Friday, to the first flames of resurrection light at the Great Vigil of Easter.
Palm Sunday (The Sunday of the Passion)
The Sunday before Easter at which Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and Jesus’s Passion on the cross are recalled. It is also known as the Sunday of the Passion. Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week. Red is the liturgical color for the day. The observance of Palm Sunday in Jerusalem was witnessed by the pilgrim Egeria in about 381-384. During this observance there was a procession of people down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. The people waved branches of palms or olive trees as they walked. They sang psalms, and shouted the antiphon, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The Palm Sunday observance was generally accepted throughout the church by the twelfth century.
The liturgy of the palms is the entrance rite for the service. The congregation may gather at a place apart from the church and process to the church after the blessing of the branches of palm or other trees. The liturgy of the palms includes a reading of one of the gospel accounts of Jesus’s entrance into Jerusalem. The branches are distributed to the people after the prayer of blessing.
The liturgy of the palms is followed by the salutation and the collect of the day. The service changes focus abruptly from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the solemnity of the Passion. The Passion gospel is drawn from one of the three synoptic accounts of the Passion, one of which is appointed for each of the three years in the eucharistic lectionary. The Passion gospel may be read or chanted by lay persons. Specific roles may be assigned to different persons, with the congregation taking the part of the crowd. It is customary to observe a brief time of silence when the moment of Jesus’s death is described by the narrator. A celebration of the Eucharist follows.
Tenebrae
This form of the monastic office (matins and lauds) is commonly adapted for congregational use during Holy Week. The office is structured around psalms, readings, and responsories. A distinguishing characteristic of this service is the series of readings from Lamentations which appear early in the office. The distinctive ceremonial of Tenebrae includes use of fifteen lighted candles, often set on a special, triangular stand. One candle is extinguished as each of the fourteen appointed psalms is completed. The fifteenth candle, symbolic of Christ, is left lighted at the end of the final psalm. But it is carried away to be hidden, which signifies the apparent victory of the forces of evil. A sudden loud noise is made at the end of the service, symbolizing the earthquake at Christ's death. The lighted candle is then restored to its place, suggesting Christ's eventual triumph.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, coming from the Latin word "mandatum" meaning commandment, is the first service of the "Triduum" or "three days." During the service we will remember Christ's new commands to us: to love our neighbor and follow his commandments. During the service, we will remember that call to loving service through the practice of foot washing. The washing of feet was a menial act of hospitality in the Hebrew Bible. It was often performed for guests by a servant or the wife of the host. The Gospel of John (13:1-17) records that Jesus washed the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus urged the disciples to follow his example of generous and humble service. They should wash one another's feet, as their feet had been washed by Jesus, their Lord and Teacher. Jesus's washing of the disciples' feet was a lived expression of his teaching that "whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:43-44). The foot-washing also expressed Jesus's "new commandment" for his disciples to love one another, as he had loved them (John 13:34).
We will also remember the final meal Jesus shared with the disciples of his body and blood (communion). As the service ends, we will move from the first day into the second, Good Friday, with the stripping of the altar.
Good Friday
The Friday before Easter Day the church commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a day of fasting and special acts of discipline and self-denial. The liturgy of the day includes John's account of the Passion gospel, a solemn form of intercession known as the solemn collects, and optional devotions before the cross, commonly known as the veneration of the cross. The eucharist is not celebrated in the Episcopal Church on Good Friday, but Holy Communion may be administered from the reserved sacrament at the Good Friday service.
Easter Vigil (Saturday Night)
The Easter Vigil liturgy is intended as the first celebration of Easter. It is also known as the Great Vigil. The service begins in darkness, sometime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter and consists of four parts: The Service of Light (kindling of new fire, lighting the Paschal candle, the Exsultet); The Service of Lessons (readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers); Christian Initiation (Holy Baptism) or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows; and the Eucharist.
Through this liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness ending at dawn on Easter to hear scripture and offer prayer. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist. Easter was the primary baptismal occasion for the early church. This practice linked the meanings of Christ's dying and rising to the understanding of baptism.
Easter
The feast of Christ's resurrection. According to Bede, the word derives from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre. Christians in England applied the word to the principal festival of the church year, both day and season. Easter Day is the annual feast of the resurrection, the Pascha or Christian Passover. Faith in Jesus's resurrection on the Sunday or third day following his crucifixion is at the heart of Christian belief. Easter sets the experience of springtime next to the ancient stories of deliverance and the proclamation of the risen Christ. In the west, Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Easter always falls between Mar. 22 and Apr. 25 inclusive. Following Jewish custom, the feast begins at sunset on Easter Eve with the Great Vigil of Easter. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Easter on the first Sunday after the Jewish pesach or Passover (which follows the spring full moon). Although the two dates sometimes coincide, the eastern date is often one or more weeks later.
An Adult Spiritual Formation Commission publication taken from https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/
This holiest week of the Christian year reaches from our glad “hosannas” of Palm Sunday, through the encroaching darkness of Tenebrae, the foot washing on Maundy Thursday, our own witness to Jesus’s passion and death on Good Friday, to the first flames of resurrection light at the Great Vigil of Easter.
Palm Sunday (The Sunday of the Passion)
The Sunday before Easter at which Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and Jesus’s Passion on the cross are recalled. It is also known as the Sunday of the Passion. Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week. Red is the liturgical color for the day. The observance of Palm Sunday in Jerusalem was witnessed by the pilgrim Egeria in about 381-384. During this observance there was a procession of people down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. The people waved branches of palms or olive trees as they walked. They sang psalms, and shouted the antiphon, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The Palm Sunday observance was generally accepted throughout the church by the twelfth century.
The liturgy of the palms is the entrance rite for the service. The congregation may gather at a place apart from the church and process to the church after the blessing of the branches of palm or other trees. The liturgy of the palms includes a reading of one of the gospel accounts of Jesus’s entrance into Jerusalem. The branches are distributed to the people after the prayer of blessing.
The liturgy of the palms is followed by the salutation and the collect of the day. The service changes focus abruptly from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the solemnity of the Passion. The Passion gospel is drawn from one of the three synoptic accounts of the Passion, one of which is appointed for each of the three years in the eucharistic lectionary. The Passion gospel may be read or chanted by lay persons. Specific roles may be assigned to different persons, with the congregation taking the part of the crowd. It is customary to observe a brief time of silence when the moment of Jesus’s death is described by the narrator. A celebration of the Eucharist follows.
Tenebrae
This form of the monastic office (matins and lauds) is commonly adapted for congregational use during Holy Week. The office is structured around psalms, readings, and responsories. A distinguishing characteristic of this service is the series of readings from Lamentations which appear early in the office. The distinctive ceremonial of Tenebrae includes use of fifteen lighted candles, often set on a special, triangular stand. One candle is extinguished as each of the fourteen appointed psalms is completed. The fifteenth candle, symbolic of Christ, is left lighted at the end of the final psalm. But it is carried away to be hidden, which signifies the apparent victory of the forces of evil. A sudden loud noise is made at the end of the service, symbolizing the earthquake at Christ's death. The lighted candle is then restored to its place, suggesting Christ's eventual triumph.
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, coming from the Latin word "mandatum" meaning commandment, is the first service of the "Triduum" or "three days." During the service we will remember Christ's new commands to us: to love our neighbor and follow his commandments. During the service, we will remember that call to loving service through the practice of foot washing. The washing of feet was a menial act of hospitality in the Hebrew Bible. It was often performed for guests by a servant or the wife of the host. The Gospel of John (13:1-17) records that Jesus washed the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper. Jesus urged the disciples to follow his example of generous and humble service. They should wash one another's feet, as their feet had been washed by Jesus, their Lord and Teacher. Jesus's washing of the disciples' feet was a lived expression of his teaching that "whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all" (Mark 10:43-44). The foot-washing also expressed Jesus's "new commandment" for his disciples to love one another, as he had loved them (John 13:34).
We will also remember the final meal Jesus shared with the disciples of his body and blood (communion). As the service ends, we will move from the first day into the second, Good Friday, with the stripping of the altar.
Good Friday
The Friday before Easter Day the church commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a day of fasting and special acts of discipline and self-denial. The liturgy of the day includes John's account of the Passion gospel, a solemn form of intercession known as the solemn collects, and optional devotions before the cross, commonly known as the veneration of the cross. The eucharist is not celebrated in the Episcopal Church on Good Friday, but Holy Communion may be administered from the reserved sacrament at the Good Friday service.
Easter Vigil (Saturday Night)
The Easter Vigil liturgy is intended as the first celebration of Easter. It is also known as the Great Vigil. The service begins in darkness, sometime between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter and consists of four parts: The Service of Light (kindling of new fire, lighting the Paschal candle, the Exsultet); The Service of Lessons (readings from the Hebrew Scriptures interspersed with psalms, canticles, and prayers); Christian Initiation (Holy Baptism) or the Renewal of Baptismal Vows; and the Eucharist.
Through this liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer recovers an ancient practice of keeping the Easter feast. Believers would gather in the hours of darkness ending at dawn on Easter to hear scripture and offer prayer. This night-long service of prayerful watching anticipated the baptisms that would come at first light and the Easter Eucharist. Easter was the primary baptismal occasion for the early church. This practice linked the meanings of Christ's dying and rising to the understanding of baptism.
Easter
The feast of Christ's resurrection. According to Bede, the word derives from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre. Christians in England applied the word to the principal festival of the church year, both day and season. Easter Day is the annual feast of the resurrection, the Pascha or Christian Passover. Faith in Jesus's resurrection on the Sunday or third day following his crucifixion is at the heart of Christian belief. Easter sets the experience of springtime next to the ancient stories of deliverance and the proclamation of the risen Christ. In the west, Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Easter always falls between Mar. 22 and Apr. 25 inclusive. Following Jewish custom, the feast begins at sunset on Easter Eve with the Great Vigil of Easter. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Easter on the first Sunday after the Jewish pesach or Passover (which follows the spring full moon). Although the two dates sometimes coincide, the eastern date is often one or more weeks later.
An Adult Spiritual Formation Commission publication taken from https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/
Additional Lenten resources
Lenten Meditations from Episcopal Relief and Development
This year, the Lenten Meditations focus on that transformation. These reflections are organized into Episcopal Relief & Development’s priorities: Women, Children and Climate, and include a focus on our Disaster Resilience & Response work. We invite you to read them throughout Lent and share with those close to you.
CLICK HERE to sign up to receive the meditations daily via email, or to download a pdf.
Life Transformed - The Way of Love in Lent: Practices for a Jesus Centered Life
A variety of materials produced by The Episcopal Church
CLICK HERE for more
40 Days of Gratitude
From the United Thank Offering: The 40 Days of Gratitude Lenten Journal is designed for at-home use for adults to deepen their spiritual practice of gratitude during Lent.
CLICK HERE for more
Gratitude Lessons for Children
More from United Thank Offering - their Lenten resources for children include an introductory lesson about gratitude, a craft for the 40 days of Lent, and a closing lesson
CLICK HERE for more
Lent Madness - Who will win the Golden Halo?
CLICK HERE to follow the fun
Living Well Through Lent
From Living Compass Spirituality & Wellness Initiative
CLICK HERE for resources
Brother, Give Us A Word From the Society of St John the Evangelist
Monasticism began when a few faithful men and women went into the desert to seek God and live a life of prayer. These Desert Fathers and Mothers, as they became known, were spiritual beacons whom other sought out for their wisdom in the ways of God. The seeker would approach and ask, "Father (Mother), give me a word."The Brothers have adapted this ancient tradition for today, offering online a daily "word" to all who seek a deeper knowledge of God, a means of handing on what we ourselves have received.
You might use each day's word as a focus for your prayer. Say the word to the rhythm of your breath and invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you through that word. You might also use the day's saying as a focus for meditative reading or lectio divina, reading slowly and allowing your mind to drift as the words inspire you to further prayer and reflection.
CLICK HERE to subscribe
This year, the Lenten Meditations focus on that transformation. These reflections are organized into Episcopal Relief & Development’s priorities: Women, Children and Climate, and include a focus on our Disaster Resilience & Response work. We invite you to read them throughout Lent and share with those close to you.
CLICK HERE to sign up to receive the meditations daily via email, or to download a pdf.
Life Transformed - The Way of Love in Lent: Practices for a Jesus Centered Life
A variety of materials produced by The Episcopal Church
CLICK HERE for more
40 Days of Gratitude
From the United Thank Offering: The 40 Days of Gratitude Lenten Journal is designed for at-home use for adults to deepen their spiritual practice of gratitude during Lent.
CLICK HERE for more
Gratitude Lessons for Children
More from United Thank Offering - their Lenten resources for children include an introductory lesson about gratitude, a craft for the 40 days of Lent, and a closing lesson
CLICK HERE for more
Lent Madness - Who will win the Golden Halo?
CLICK HERE to follow the fun
Living Well Through Lent
From Living Compass Spirituality & Wellness Initiative
CLICK HERE for resources
Brother, Give Us A Word From the Society of St John the Evangelist
Monasticism began when a few faithful men and women went into the desert to seek God and live a life of prayer. These Desert Fathers and Mothers, as they became known, were spiritual beacons whom other sought out for their wisdom in the ways of God. The seeker would approach and ask, "Father (Mother), give me a word."The Brothers have adapted this ancient tradition for today, offering online a daily "word" to all who seek a deeper knowledge of God, a means of handing on what we ourselves have received.
You might use each day's word as a focus for your prayer. Say the word to the rhythm of your breath and invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you through that word. You might also use the day's saying as a focus for meditative reading or lectio divina, reading slowly and allowing your mind to drift as the words inspire you to further prayer and reflection.
CLICK HERE to subscribe
