Category Archives: Prayer

2024 ADVENT-ures

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The new Church year is once again upon us!

 Why not add something to your devotional life to mark a fresh start?

Choose from the following list of diverse opportunities on the Advent weekdays to deepen your prayer and/or study and/or worship.

MONDAYS - beginning 2 December

  • The Four Last Things:  Seasonal study of the traditional eschatological themes—death, judgment, hell and heaven. Facilitated by the Dean, Geoffrey Hall. 1:00-2:00 pm in the Boardroom; online connection option.
    * Email to register <dean at christchurchcathedral.com>

TUESDAYS - beginning 3 December

  • Taizé Worship: A simple and contemplative half hour of scripture, prayer, silence and song. 5:30 p.m. start.
    3 and 17 December on Zoom
    10 December in-person and livestreamed from the Cathedral
    * Link through the Cathedral Calendar or from Kurt.

WEDNESDAYS - beginning 4 December

  • Celtic Advent Spirituality Series: Contemplative ideas and practices for Advent and beyond, presented in the “Threshold Gathering” model/format. Led by Kurt Schmidt. In-person, 3:00-4:30 pm, Memorial Hall Lounge.
    * Please reserve your seat with Kurt for any/all sessions.

THURSDAYS - beginning 28 November

DAILY / ONGOING

  • Divine Office: Regular, short daily prayer opportunity in the Cathedral. Morning Prayer at 8:45 a.m., Evening Prayer at 4:45 p.m. Weekdays.
    * Just drop in any time -- or sign up to lead!
  • Dante Group: But reading not-Dante now! Led by Alan Hall. Thursday evenings, 7:00-8:00 p.m., Cathedral Memorial Hall Lounge.
    * Just drop in any time!
  • Holy Eucharist: Wednesday mornings, 10:00 a.m. in the Cathedral.

 

You are encouraged to add at least one new Advent-ure to your schedule this year!


Questions or expressions of interest can be communicated to Cathedral Director of Christian Formation, Kurt Schmidt by email <formation at christchurchcathedral.com> or by phone/text to (506) 259-3711. Thank you, and Advent Blessings!

 

Listen, Love and Pray: Grief and Loss Support

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Join Deacons Isabel Cutler and Debbie Edmondson for a new program called Listen, Love and Pray: Grief and Loss Support.

Growing in faith, grace, gratitude, hope, and love - holding space for being together with loss. People feeling grief and loss of all types will gather to reflect and support each other’s experiences.

Beginning Monday, 09 December 7:00-9:00 p.m. and continuing on the second Monday of each month. Cathedral Memorial Hall, Lounge, 168 Church Street, Fredericton.

Anyone from the community is welcome to attend.

 

 

All Souls – Remembering those we love

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All Souls’ Day will be observed at Christ Church Cathedral on Wednesday, 06 November, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. (after All Saints' Day on Friday, 01 November and All Saints' Sunday which will be observed on 03 November). Prayer requests for the departed may be added by using this online form, by email <office at christchurchcathedral.com> or phone (506) 450-8500.

Names must be submitted by the end of the day on Tuesday, 05 November, to allow time for adding to the list to be read during worship. Thank you.

~  ~  ~

This is a day of prayer for the departed faithful. Like All Saints’ Day, this commemoration is tied to the profession in the Apostles’ Creed of the communion of saints, which former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams broadly interprets as the “sharing between holy people” or the “sharing of holy things.” Based on the spiritual unity of all Christians, those living this earthly life and those who have gone before—the communion is a mystical bond in Christ not broken by death. The prayer cycle of the Office of the Dead is read/sung, and in some countries people pay tribute at their relatives’ graves.

- text from the Anglican Journal

 

Pray Without Ceasing – prayer resource for the daily offices

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A new prayer resource published by the Anglican Church of Canada will be of interest to Anglicans who pray the Daily Office. Pray Without Ceasing invites Anglicans to deepen their faith, join with the wider Church in prayer and maintain formative patterns in the rhythm of spiritual life.

Praying the Daily Office stands as a cornerstone of Anglican spirituality, embodying our continual service and commitment to God. However, due to its layout, The Book of Alternative Services (BAS) presents challenges in following the Daily Office. Over the decades since the publication of the BAS, fresh language has emerged for litanies, canticles, prayers and psalmody.

Pray Without Ceasing transforms the Daily Office from the BAS by incorporating Anglican, Lutheran and additional ecumenical sources into a more comprehensive format for Morning and Evening Prayer. The book is structured into sections corresponding to the seasons of the Church year and features an updated Liturgical Psalter for the BAS. These enhancements have resulted in a clear, step-by-step approach to the practice of daily prayer and reflection, making Pray Without Ceasing a must-have resource.

Pray Without Ceasing is available as a coilbound book or in ebook format through the Anglican Church’s eStore.

The “Surrender Novena” – Fr. Don Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970)

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"O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!"

Dolindo Ruotolo was the Italian Roman Catholic priest known for the "spirituality of surrender." A "novena" is a series of nine days of prayer and reflection.  The 'Surrender Novena" captures the essence of both the prayer and the approach.

Day 1
Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 2
Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything ...

Continue in Day 2 at the Surrender prayer website or in a downloadable pdf version here.

Read more about praying the Surrender Novena at the Hallow App website.

Making Anglican prayer beads

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The Cathedral's Spirituality of the Seasons group met to make their own prayer beads on the afternoon of Wednesday, 22 May.

Originally scheduled as a Spirituality of Easter session, the date was postponed into Pentecost. Due to the popularity of the varied sessions, gatherings have extended but will break before the summer.

Deacon Debbie Edmondson led the beading session, providing instructions, materials and prayers for participants.

"Anglican prayer beads (also known as the Anglican rosary) were created as a tool for prayer. It is a prayer form which is a blending of the Marian (Roman Catholic) Rosary and the Orthodox Jesus Prayer Rope and encourages a wider range of prayers. It is a simple form of prayer available to all of God's children, and is a way of allowing God's Word to sink deeply into the soul and become prayer in us." (Download the resource: 'A Circle of Prayer: The Anglican Rosary for All of God’s People' from the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer)

Other members of the congregation (and beyond) have indicated interest in attending a beading session at a different time of day, and we hope to be able to offer this in the future.

[Pictured in photo: Sandra Noftell, Pamela Naugler, Janet Maston, Charlene Worrall, and Rachel Ranson]

 

Thy Kingdom Come 2024

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Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. What started in 2016 as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer.

Download the Guide for Eleven Days of Prayer

Join the global wave of prayer calling all Christians to pray between Ascension and Pentecost for more people to come to know the love and peace of Jesus Christ. We hope that you choose to participate in this global prayer movement. This year, a special emphasis is suggested as we pray for youth and young families.

Christ Church Cathedral will participate from 09-19 May 2024, with group and individual prayer initiatives. View the Guide for Eleven Days of Prayer for information about events, resources for all ages, and readings to help you focus. Printed copies are available at the Cathedral and Hall. Resources such as a Prayer Journal and Novena are also available to download for free on the Thy Kingdom Come website.

Thy Kingdom Come begins with Ascension and ends with Pentecost. Celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on Thursday 09, May at 7:30 p.m. in the Cathedral. Celebrate Pentecost on Sunday, 19 May at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. in the Cathedral.

In the days between Ascension and Pentecost, it has been the habit of many Christians, for centuries, to make the focus of our prayers the same as those first believers. Christ’s last instruction to His disciples on the day of his Ascension is to ‘wait for the gift my Father promised’ (Acts 1:4).

Join us on weekdays during Thy Kingdom Come for a local discussion (45 min) about the series of reflections by Bishop Anthony Poggo, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion on passages from Revelation. We begin at 5:15 p.m. Friday 10 May in the Memorial Hall boardroom or via Video Conference (see our calendar).

Commit to attending the Daily Office in the morning (8:45 a.m.) and the evening (4:45 p.m.) in the Cathedral. Join us for this prayer Tuesday - Friday during Thy Kingdom Come (due to the Victoria Day holiday on Monday, May 22). It takes about 15 minutes.

Growing a new generation of pray-ers?

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Thy Kingdom Come

One thing I really look forward to during Thy Kingdom Come is praying with my grandchildren. Why not join in with me?

Here are five ways in which your family or your children’s group might join together in praying during Thy Kingdom Come, 18th-28th May 2023.

Plant seed stick prayers – Pray for your 5 non-Christian neighbours and friends and plant a seed! Write their name on the top of the seed stick and watch the sunflowers grow as you pray each day. Thy Kingdom Come Pray for 5 Seeds

Tune into the Cheeky Pandas! Why not tune in to an episode with the Cheeky Pandas, try an accompanying activity pack and order some of the Cheeky Pandas stickers and share with your friends?

Why not make some prayer beads – using these instructions? Prayer Beads Instructions. Here is an example of how the prayer beads can be used: Thy Kingdom Come - A wave of prayer across the nations

Why not try rocket prayers! If you have an outdoor space why not try lifting 5 friends in prayer? Buchan family fun - rocket prayers

There are a few ideas here such as Prayer Craft TKC 23 Ideas.

And a sneaky 6 th idea Take a glass of water and drop a fizzy vitamin tablet in it and as you watch it change the water ask God to pour his love into the hearts of those you are praying for.

by the Reverend Canon Jean Kerr for Thy Kingdom Come 2023

What are the Ember Days?

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The seasonal Ember Days are not included in the calendar of the Anglican Church of Canada but MacCausland’s Divine Order of Service notes that there seems to be "renewed interest" in their observance in recent years. The Prayer Book of 1962 provides propers for Ember Days which it says may be used on the Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays on specified days of the four seasons.

According to the Farmers' Almanac, the English word “ember” is probably a corruption of the Latin “quatuor tempora” which means four times or four seasons.

Interestingly, the Farmers' Almanac and the Old Farmer’s Almanac contain other historical information about Ember Days.

“There are a total of 12 Ember Days each year, observed on the Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays following the first Sunday in Lent, Whitsunday (Pentecost), the Feast of the Holy Cross, and the Feast of St. Lucy (Lucia?). While the first Sunday in Lent and Whitsunday-Pentecost change each year based on Easter, the Feast of the Holy Cross and the Feast of St. Lucy are fixed dates, on September 14 and December 13, respectively.

Ember Day observances date back to the 5th century, when observers would thank God for the gifts of nature, embrace those gifts in moderation, and assist the needy.

Ember Days began in Rome with fasts in June, September, and December, but the days were not fixed. The fourth set of days were added near the end of the 5th century. At that time, the conferring of ordinations was permitted on ember Saturdays, while previously, the practice was ordinations only at Easter.

It is said that Ember Days may have been created in response to the excessive celebrations that surrounded the pagan festivals in Rome."

Superstitions abound including, that the weather on ember days somehow predicts future weather, sounding a lot like how we still fun about with Ground Hog Day superstition.

An old English rhyme helped people to remember the occurrence of Ember Days four times throughout the year:

Fasting days and Emberings be
Lent, Whitsun, Holyrood, and Lucie.

See a full post 'What Are Ember Days'

Lent, Whitsunday, Holy Cross (11 September), St. Lucie (13 December)

St. Lucie, Lucy or Lucia (the Saint of light, light being the origin of the name) has been mostly a Scandinavian celebration and the festival day has not been included in North American Anglican calenders. It is still December 13th as it has been for centuries in the calender of the Church of England. See Saint Lucy’s Day on the Anglican Compass.

More on Ember Days:

Ember Days Wikipedia
Ember Days (MacCausland's Divine Order of Service) via the Online Lectionary
Ember Days - The Episcopal Church
Embertide: Common Worship C of E