This Week’s Newsletter

new church tower with weathercock-bw

Here is this week’s newsletter: St Stephen’s News XXVIII No 45

The Twenty–Third Sunday after Trinity

Trinity (celtic knot)

O God, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness: Be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

. . . → Read More: The Twenty–Third Sunday after Trinity

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Marianne Stokes St Elizabeth of Hungary Spinning for the Poor

St Elizabeth of Hungary Spinning for the Poor, by Marianne Stokes (1855–1927). From Wikipedia.

O merciful God, enlighten the hearts of thy faithful people, that, following the example of blessed Elizabeth, they may learn to set their affection on things above where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our . . . → Read More: Saint Elizabeth of Hungary

Cookie Walk ’17: ‘Tis the Season to be Baking

Cookie Walk helpers

A Brazen Appeal from the Eagle

By the time many of you receive this, the temperature will have dropped, and so it’s time to get down to the serious business of Cookie Walk, the central ingredient of which is, of course, cookies.

Being firmly anchored here in the front of the sanctuary, I don’t . . . → Read More: Cookie Walk ’17: ‘Tis the Season to be Baking

Saint Hilda, Abbess of Whitby

O God, the author of all virtues, by whose gift thy blessed Saint Hilda chose the heavenly vision before the fleeting glories of the world: Grant that we may learn by her example to despise the passing things of earth, and seek after the things which are eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

. . . → Read More: Saint Hilda, Abbess of Whitby

Saint Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln

Hugh of Lincoln

Altarpiece from the Carthusian monastery of Saint-Honoré, Thuison-les-Abbeville, France, depicting Saint Hugh of Lincoln with his swan.

O merciful Father, who didst endow thy servant Hugh of Lincoln with a wise and cheerful boldness, and didst teach him how to commend the discipline of holy life to kings and princes: Grant that we, . . . → Read More: Saint Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln

It’s time to start thinking about Cookie Walk 2017

Cookie Walk 2016 / Baltimore Sun

Cookie Walk 2016 /(Steve Ruark / Baltimore Sun Media Group)

Here I am again. They won’t let me air my views on politics or religion or, in fact, anything controversial. All they do is press–gang me into writing commercials for Cookie Walk 2017. The Cookie Walk will be early this year. It takes . . . → Read More: It’s time to start thinking about Cookie Walk 2017

Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland

st margaret and the dragon

St Margaret and the Dragon, from Les Grandes Heures d’Anne de Bretagne, by Jean Bourdichon (1457 or 1459 – 1521). From Wikimedia.

O God, who didst call thy servant Margaret to an earthly throne that she might advance thy heavenly kingdom, and didst give her zeal for thy Church and love for . . . → Read More: Saint Margaret, Queen of Scotland

The Sermon for Sunday November 12th – Trinity XXII

Fr Kerouac

Here is the sermon for Sunday November 12th: Trinity 22, 2017

The 1662 Prayer Book and the reason we use it

Book of Common Prayer 1662

The title page of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, as printed by John Baskerville in 1762

Television, it must be conceded, has conferred benefits on society, but along with the good has come an abundance of bad. And one of its most serious bits of mischief seems to have gone largely unnoticed: . . . → Read More: The 1662 Prayer Book and the reason we use it